The commodification of intermediate housing, subsidies for the wealthy and community led alternatives.

Humphry, Debbie and Bernstock, Penny (2021). The commodification of intermediate housing, subsidies for the wealthy and community led alternatives. In: IIBG/RGS The Royal Geographic Society Annual International Conference, 31 Aug - 3 Sep 2021, London.

Abstract

Drawing on seven years of research in London’s Olympic Park, this paper utilises Aalbers’ fifth wave gentrification theory to explore the commodification of intermediate housing on the Olympic Park in London. Intermediate housing has historically played an important role in housing lower income groups and it comprises an increasing proportion of new affordable housing provision in the UK. However, current models, such as shared ownership and intermediate rent, are contributing to exclusionary displacement, insecurity of tenure and socio-spatial restructuring. This is shaped by the increasing financialisation of housing, with affordable housing based on market prices rather than incomes. This leads to the key beneficiaries in high value areas such as London being households on some of the highest incomes. Thus at a time of fiscal austerity, limited state subsidies are being targeted at those on higher incomes rather than those in greatest need, resulting in a housing gap for the originally intended beneficiaries. Drawing on campaigning action research with East London Citizens in the Olympic Park, the paper therefore proposes that new forms of non-market intermediate housing are urgently needed, that are community led, genuinely affordable, promote security of tenure and remain affordable in perpetuity.

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