Recommodifying Housing in Formerly “Red” Vienna?

Abstract

Among West European cities, Vienna stands out as a case that has developed a particularly large decommodified housing stock over the twentieth century. The city’s housing model has also shown greater stability against wider recommodification trends since the 1980s. This paper centres on two policy changes since the mid-1990s: first, the local government has ceased to provide council housing and is now entirely relying on non-profit associations for the provision of social rental housing. Second, the national government has liberalized rent regulation in the private rental market. The first part of the paper introduces these changes, discusses how they represent steps towards greater market influence and how they put pressure on decommodified housing, particularly since the mid-2000s. The second part argues that the reforms have initiated a dualization trend among low-income households, forging a division between market insiders and outsiders. The third part reflects whether the policy changes mean that Vienna is also increasingly incorporated into broader recommodification trends. We argue that substantial decommodification policies have remained in place, although they have been severely weakened by recommodification attempts. Representations of Vienna as an exceptional case without significant recommodification, however, should be questioned.