Who Assetizes Housing? Insights from the Spanish Housing Market.

Housing assetization has been an on-going process across the globe, which has been particularly intense in the post-2008 context (Birch & Ward, 2024). Research has shown how asset managers have greatly benefited from investments into housing (Christophers, 2024) Yet, what Adkins et al (2020) illustrate, is that not only asset manager capitalists are benefiting from housing assetization, but also wider social strata of homeowners, in what Rodríguez (2022) has labelled as a form of “popular rentierism”. Housing assetization by homeowners appears to compensate decreasing salaries by increasing housing rents.

Drawing from several Spanish cities, in this presentation I will check empirically what are the driving forces triggering housing assetization by homeowners. Specifically, I will dissect first the different rentier strategies carried out by Spanish homeowners to assetize their properties. Second, I will analyze the economic and social reasons inducing homeowners to carry out such housing-based assetization in the post-2008 context. Finally, I will reflect on how different social groups in Spain are facing a housing accessibility crisis triggered by homeowners assetization strategies.