Institute for International Political Economy Berlin Financialisation and Rental Housing: A Case Study of Berlin Author: Clementine Davies Working Paper, No. 153/2021 Editors: Sigrid Betzelt, Eckhard Hein (lead editor), Martina Metzger, Martina Sproll, Christina Teipen, Markus Wissen, Jennifer Pédussel Wu, Reingard Zimmer Financialisation and Rental Housing: A Case Study of Berlin Clementine Davies1 Berlin School of Economics and Law
[email protected] Abstract This paper seeks to understand the extent financialisation has had an impact on the rental housing market in Berlin. Specifically, it focuses on the financialisation of non-financial rental housing companies. The financial statements of five large, publicly listed, commercial rental housing companies in Berlin are examined for three operationalisations of financialisation: as a means of accumulation, as a mode of corporate governance, and as the prioritisation of short-term perspectives. Findings show no trends of firms increasingly relying on financial instruments for profit but did show increased shareholder orientation and short termism. Implications for the supply, price and quality of rental housing in Berlin are discussed. Key words: financialisation, homeownership, firm ownership structure, rental housing, rental market, Berlin. JEL codes: G3, G32, L2, N2, R21, R31 Contact :
[email protected] 1 This paper is a revised version of my master’s thesis. I would like to thank Prof.Dr. Jennifer Pédussel Wu and Prof. Dr. Emt. Martin Kronauer for their helpful comments. 2 1 INTRODUCTION In the early 2000s, Berlin City Council was demolishing state housing and selling whole public housing estates to private investors for less than 20,000 euros an apartment. Since 2010, rents in Berlin have doubled in some areas.