Many European countries are experiencing a recent (re)emergence of collaborative housing, such as co-housing, housing co-operatives and other forms of collective self-organised housing. One of the less studied aspects of these housing forms is the relationship between users (i.e. residents) and institutional actors and, in particular, established housing providers. This paper proposes a conceptual framework that helps expand the knowledge on the nature of these collaboration practices. To this end, different concepts and theories are reviewed, with a focus on collaboration and co-production as useful constructs to understand these phenomena. The proposed framework is applied to two examples of collaboration for housing co-production between residents' groups and established housing providers in Vienna and Lyon, respectively. We found a high degree of user involvement throughout each project. In both cases, the group of residents that initiated the project partneredup with established housing providers, who facilitated access to key resources and professional expertise. We hypothesise that housing providers with an ethos akin to initiators' values will more likely become (and stay) involved in collaborative housing, as compared to mainstream providers. We conclude with a reflection on possible improvements to our analytical framework and directions for further research.
Since the 1980s, as part of the gradual transformation of the welfare state in large parts of Europe, many countries have witnessed a decline in the provision of social housing. Overall, there has been a trend towards housing becoming more market oriented, competitive and opened up to economic pressures. Supply subsidies to social housing have been replaced or complemented in a number of countries by demand-side subsidies through housing benefits and vouchers. In this context, social housing organisations across the European Union (EU) are facing a paradoxical challenge: while they are expected to fulfil a 'social mission' (i.e. provide access to decent housing to people who cannot afford it in the market), the steep reduction in subsidies and in public investment in housing are putting increasing pressure on these organisations to become more 'market-oriented' or 'business-like' as a way to become self-financing. This paper aims to shed light on these developments on the basis of the findings of a comparative study on the management of social rental housing organisations across the European Union. The study looks at how 'social' and 'commercial' objectives are reflected in strategy formulation, the key challenges faced by organisations, and the specific responses and innovative management approaches being put in place to deal with these challenges. In this paper we present and discuss findings from the study. In the relative absence of theory in this field, the analysis of findings uses a set of management concepts specifically crafted for the study of management models of social rental housing in Europe. The study is the first ever comparative European research of the management systems, values, visions and strategies of organisations that own and manage properties in the social rental sector.Social rental housing, European Union, management strategy, organisational developments, market orientation, social values,
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