The Prehistories of Neoliberal Housing Policies in Italy and Spain and Their Reification in Times of Crisis

Abstract

In this article we analyze the historical roots of neoliberal housing policies, mottos, and principles in Italy and Spain, two countries with a Mediterranean welfare regime, showing how they are embedded in the twentieth-century fascist–dictatorial regimes of Mussolini and Franco. To stimulate economic growth in a situation of autarchy, both regimes saw the construction sector and the promotion of homeownership as keys to fuel the accumulation process while believing this guaranteed social order. After acknowledging these long-standing roots, we show how the current phase of neoliberalism, characterized by severe austerity policies, relies on similar principles, the main reforms approved in both countries proceeding mainly toward cuts to service provisions and resources, whereas the promotion of homeownership remains unchallenged.

Keywords:

• Neoliberalism
• housing policy
• austerity policies
• Mediterranean welfare regime
• Italy
• Spain

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the reviewers and (guest) editors for constructive feedback.

Notes

1. European Mortgage Federation (EMF) data on homeownership rates differ from European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data reported by the Spanish National Institute of Statistics. According to EU-SILC/Eurostat, the homeownership rate reached its peak in Spain in 2005 (80.5%), whereas in 2007 it was 80.1%.

2. The data of the 1921 census (Istituto Centrale di Statistica, 1928) are available online: http://lipari.istat.it/digibib/censpop1921/VolumeII_Regioni/UBO0296435_XIX_Relazione_generale+OCR_ottimizzato.pdf.

3. In Turin, for instance, from 61.46% in 1924 to 22.49% in 1925 (Bortolotti, 1971a).

4. The data of the 1931 “Special Enquiry on Housing” are available online: http://lipari.istat.it/digibib/Santo/censimento%20popolazione%201931%20NAZIONALI%20E%20MONOTEMATICI/pdf/Indagine%20speciale%20sulle%20abitazioni%20-%20Dati%20riassuntivi.pdf (Istituto Centrale di Statistica del Regno d’Italia, 1934). Regarding homeownership, the Special Enquiry does not report data on municipalities with population under 20,000 residents. Because of the war, the census was not carried out in 1941, so there are no available data from the Public Institute of Statistics accounting for the rise in homeownership in the 1930s.

5. Data available online: http://ucs.interno.gov.it/FILES/AllegatiPag/1263/Pubblicazione_sfratti_2015.pdf (Ministero dell’Interno, 2016).

6. Cedolare secca is the name of the special tax regime applied for agreed private rental contracts. It was instituted in 2011 with two main aims. The first is contrasting unregistered contracts, whereas the second is avoiding increases in rents. When created, it was 19%, whereas the ordinary taxation is 23% of 95% of rent.