Urban Planning

• https://schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Combating-Financialization-of-Housing-KSH-and-JM.pdf

“The financialization of housing refers to the growing dominance of financial actors in the housing sector, which is transforming the primary function of housing from a place to live into a financial asset and tool for investor profits.” In other words, housing is seen as a commodity and a vehicle for profit-maximization rather than as a home – a place of shelter. When this happens, the exchange value of housing is prioritized over its use value, which serves to undermine tenants’ rights to decent and affordable housing, as financial firms (e.g., private equity, real estate investment trusts (REITS), asset managers) engage in profit-making strategies that involve extracting more revenue from tenants (August, 2022).