2024
Bo Bengtsson
The article titled "The changing role of cooperatives in the Swedish housing regime" by Bo Bengtsson, published in March 2024 in Housing Studies, delves into the historical development of cooperative housing in Sweden. With cooperative housing accounting for approximately 25% of the total housing stock, this analysis employs a path dependence perspective to illuminate how this sector has evolved over time and its shifting role within Sweden's universal housing framework. Bengtsson identifies three pivotal moments that significantly influenced the trajectory of cooperative housing in Sweden. The Tenant-Ownership Act of 1930 established tenant-ownership as a unique housing tenure, while the post-World War II universal housing regime positioned cooperative housing centrally in housing provision. The 1968-1969 deregulation marked a turning point, facilitating marketization and expansion of the cooperative sector. The article emphasizes that national politicians and cooperative leaders were the primary drivers of these changes, contrasting with the limited involvement of cooperative members compared to similar movements in Norway. The author's findings reveal that the long-term implications of these reforms were more profound than initially anticipated. While the 1930 Act ensured the stability of cooperative housing, subsequent reforms transformed the sector from a social movement dedicated to providing decent housing to a significant component of the national housing regime, culminating in its marketized status today. Ultimately, Bengtsson argues that the Swedish experience illustrates the fragility of a cooperative-based social housing system, highlighting the challenges of reconciling ownership with socio-political objectives as marketization takes hold.
Title: The changing role of cooperatives in the Swedish housing regime - a path dependence analysis
Author: Bo Bengtsson
Published: March 2024 in Housing Studies
Context: This article analyzes the historical development of cooperative housing in Sweden using a path dependence perspective. Sweden has an unusually large cooperative housing sector, accounting for about 25% of the total housing stock. The author aims to explain how this sector developed over time and changed its role within Sweden's universal housing regime.
Key Findings:
- The article identifies three critical junctures that shaped the trajectory of cooperative housing in Sweden:
- At each critical juncture, the main actors driving change were national politicians (especially Social Democrats) and leaders of cooperative organizations. Cooperative members and potential members played a limited role, in contrast to similar reforms in Norway.
- The mechanisms of efficiency, legitimacy and power were at work in all three reforms, contributing to path dependence.
- The long-term consequences of these reforms were more far-reaching than anticipated by actors at the time:
- The 1930 Act guaranteed long-term stability of cooperative housing
- The 1940s reforms gave cooperatives a central role in the universal housing regime
- The 1968 deregulation led to marketization of the sector
- The cooperative sector has expanded steadily since the 1930s, reaching 25% of the housing stock today. However, its role has changed from a social movement providing decent housing to members, to an important part of the national housing regime, and more recently to a marketized tenure form.
- The author argues that the Swedish experience shows how a system of social housing based on cooperatives can be fragile due to tensions between ownership and socio-political goals. The marketization process proved difficult to reverse once started.
- The path dependence framework used to analyze the Swedish case could be fruitfully applied to study cooperative housing development in other countries, examining critical junctures, key actors, and mechanisms of change.
a) The Tenant-Ownership Act of 1930, which established tenant-ownership as a distinct housing tenure.
b) The introduction of Sweden's universal housing regime after WWII, which gave cooperative housing a central role in housing provision.
c) The deregulation of the cooperative tenure in 1968-1969, which opened the path to marketization and further expansion.
The article contributes to understanding how cooperative housing developed in Sweden through a path dependence lens, and suggests this approach could yield insights if applied to other national contexts.