Housing markets between investors' interests and municipal housing policy - an actor- and institutional oriented analysis using the examples of Hamburg, Cologne and Munich

• Applicant: Dr. Katrin Klein-Hitpaß
• Subject Area: Human Geography
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 310772034

Investments in metropolitan housing markets in Germany have significantly increased over the past few years and institutional investors have started to play an important role. Deriving from a growing demand for residential real estate as investment goods, rents and house prices especially in metropolitan areas rise to a new level and the supply of cheap housing decreased. These processes are subject of an intensively led public debate, leading to an increased public interest in housing policy. To improve housing supply municipalities play a crucial role. But in developing and implementing different housing policy instruments they are confronted with new challenges and especially with the need for more consultation and cooperation among relevant actors. It is against this background that the research project seeks to conceptualize and to empirically analyze new links between current developments on metropolitan housing markets in Germany and structures of governance and cooperation in the field of housing. Doing so special consideration will be given to institutional investors' investment strategies and activities. Based on a small-scale analysis of their housing transactions a differentiated typology of institutional investors and their investment strategies will be developed. Based on this and applying a governance-perspective the analysis focusses on both institutional arrangements and relevant groups of actors (i.e. institutional investors, civil groups, and actors from politics and administration) and their interaction. It is asked, whether, and if so, how the relevant groups of actors operate as institutional entrepreneurs and change given governance structures based on their own resources in the field of housing. By analyzing this research question in different cities it is possible to take the local specifics regarding investors' activities and institutional change into account. It is assumed that the actors' influence on the design of governance structures varies among and within cities. The comparison also forms the basis for developing a typology of housing governance modes. To analyze the complex links between developments on housing markets and governance and cooperation structures in the field of housing, secondary statistics are analyzed and expert interviews are conducted. Case studies are carried out on the basis of specific housing projects in the cities of Hamburg, Cologne and Munich in order to elaborate on the role of differences regarding investments, consultation processes and institutional arrangements.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants