Financialization of rental housing and the precariousness of low-income families in Medellín (Colombia)

Abstract

Financialization is one of the current characteristics of globalization and has had a strong impact on housing, so it is no longer a fundamental right but a service for which lower-income families must go into debt. The objective of this article is to analyze the financialization of housing through renting in Medellin and its consequences among low-income families. We used a qualitative methodology based on the analysis of secondary information on rents, income, poverty, and other socioeconomic variables, together with their spatialization in the city. We concluded that, while in developed countries this financialization occurs through Real Estate Investment Funds, in Colombia (especially in Medellin) the financialization of housing through renting is evidenced by the purchase of Social Interest Housing, promoted by the State, by families with surplus capital who rent it to lower income families: the original recipients of these benefits.