What We Mean when We Say… Fair Housing Policies
Edited by Sara Nikolić Author(s) Jovana Timotijević, Danilo Čurčić Publisher Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade Institute for Democratic Engagement Southeast Europe, Belgrade Published 2022 ISBN 978-86-82324-08-9 Pages 21 Edition Square
This publication offers an alternative to the dominant attitudes towards housing in Serbia today. According to the analysis of competent institutions, in 2017, only about 10% of citizens were able to purchase an apartment on the market, while for the rest, the path to a home meant either inheritance, illegal construction, or perpetual precarious subtenancy. This text first analyzes the conditions that have led to the current situation. Further, it offers an alternative to the general commodification of housing, and the withdrawal of the state from regulating the housing market. More precisely, the publication proposes substantial interventions in public policy that deals with this neglected topic – from changes in the normative plan, through increase in public social spending for housing, to other measures that would help mitigate the commodification of housing. The inescapable conclusion emerging from these proposals is that desired fair housing policies cannot be understood without intervention in the overall conditions of social reproduction, which can only be brought about through radical change in the economic sphere.