Privatised Keynesianism and the state-enhanced diversification of credit: the case of the French housing market

Abstract

In 2008, it became clear that the pre-crisis growth model of privatised Keynesianism was at least temporarily undermined by the global financial crisis. Instead, housing scholars started pointing out that the combination of reduced home ownership and the resurgence of private landlordism indicated a shifting approach to housing wealth in capitalist societies. However, this research on the housing market of France demonstrates that the rise of private landlordism does not necessarily undermine home ownership. Unlike in many other European countries, pre-crisis credit expansion in France was not only targeted at homeowners, but also at private landlords and buy-to-let investors that used state-authorised credit loans to fund investments in the private rental sector. Because the rise of private landlordism in France has rather complemented than undermined home ownership, this paper shows that privatised Keynesianism in France has both linked homeowners and private landlords to extensive housing debt.