What is being called “renewal” is, in practice, a reassertion of the bare power of property ownership in service of reconfiguring who is allowed to inhabit the city.

Private investment funds now have optimal conditions for entry into the new social housing market, with minimal capital expenditure, guaranteed market rent, a not-for-profit managing the tenancies and full control of the assets after 10 years. Governments have created a social housing market that delivers dividends to private capital, dressed up as a solution to the deepening housing crisis.