Rental housing in transformation: Markets, typologies, and actorsn

Abstract

In recent decades, rental housing markets have undergone profound transformations across both the global north and south. These include the expansion of the private rental sector, the emergence of new housing typologies and experiences, the growing role of corporate and institutional actors, and the strengthening of tenant movements advocating for fair rental conditions. In Latin America, where homeownership has historically dominated housing policy, renting has gained increasing significance in both formal and informal markets, resulting in significant heterogeneity in supply and demand profiles. This diversity not only reflects different typologies but also points to the coexistence of multiple rental regimes characterized by distinct governance frameworks, social relations and territorial embeddedness. This special issue brings together case studies from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Spain and Mexico, to examine how rental markets are shaped by processes of increased precariousness, densification, tourism-oriented short-term rentals and financialization. The articles in this issue adopt interdisciplinary perspectives, highlighting the complexity of renting, its social, economic and urban implications, and the contested role of public policy in shaping these dynamics. Taken together, the articles underscore the need to approach rental housing as a structural mode of access to housing. Understanding its diversity and transformations is essential for addressing pressing challenges of exclusion, segregation and inequality in contemporary urban contexts.