what @FT forgot to tell you is that Berlin wants to housing back in public ownership
because it's European city where institutional landlords - private equity & complex ecosystem behind - have been most aggressive in turning housing into an asset class
ft.com/content/4a5fb5…
because it's European city where institutional landlords - private equity & complex ecosystem behind - have been most aggressive in turning housing into an asset class
ft.com/content/4a5fb5…
institutional landlords minted EUR 40bn of Berlin houses into assets that they rent out.
roughly the combined value of London and Amsterdam's institutionally owned houses.
roughly the combined value of London and Amsterdam's institutionally owned houses.
this trend - financialisation of housing, or Housing as an Asset Class - will only accelerate after the pandemic.
in 2021 alone, funds targeting residential housing in Germany raised EUR 5 bn from your/my pension fund, insurance company & your rich uncle's private wealth fund
in 2021 alone, funds targeting residential housing in Germany raised EUR 5 bn from your/my pension fund, insurance company & your rich uncle's private wealth fund
the EUR 5 bn massively underestimates the tsunami of institutional money chasing residential housing across Germany, and Europe.
their biggest problem? not enough residential housing to mint into asset classes.
their biggest problem? not enough residential housing to mint into asset classes.
but crises are wonderful opportunities for financial capital:
austerity, gullible politicians buying into 'leveraging private finance for housing' & European financial regulators making it easy for my pension fund to become my landlord, with all profits going to Blackstone
austerity, gullible politicians buying into 'leveraging private finance for housing' & European financial regulators making it easy for my pension fund to become my landlord, with all profits going to Blackstone
Recent European initiatives – including STS Securitization and the Securitization of Non-Performing Exposures – will further ease transformation of housing into asset classes, and their move from private into institutional ownership.
and private equity is only part of the story - there is public equity (REITs), essentially a tax arbitrage vehicle for private equity, again courtesy of a state derisking housing for institutional investors (ahem Ireland/Spain)
Berlin and Dublin are finally trying to resist the HAC (housing as an asset class) revolution, but national initiatives will not be enough
irishtimes.com/news/politics/…
irishtimes.com/news/politics/…
stay tuned for our report (with Sebastian Kohl) where we argue European level solutions - a European Housing Bank, and my favourite, a double materiality disclosure and regulatory regime for housing assets - are necessary to protect housing from financial capital.
in case you're looking for villains behind the usual suspects financialising your flat, here is Tony Blair, the champion of private equity allocations for British pension funds
top 5 'My flat is now an asset class', Berlin Edition.
your Berlin institutional landlord, private equity Optimum Asset Management, runs 4 real estate funds (EUR 800 million), whose main investors are Italian public and private pension funds.
your Berlin institutional landlord, private equity Optimum Asset Management, runs 4 real estate funds (EUR 800 million), whose main investors are Italian public and private pension funds.
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