Do housing cooperatives change amidst neoliberal policies? Evidence from hybridization of two cooperative organizations in Milan

The article investigates if and how neoliberal policy change makes housing cooperatives (HCs) assume certain hybrid forms and institutional logics, affecting their housing production, financing and governance (and ultimately their contribution to affordable housing provision). The article traces the trajectory of two frontrunner HCs confronted with the development of housing policies in Milan and investigates their hybridization by combining the analysis of quantitative data and interviews with key informants. The article pinpoints how hybridization depends on path-dependencies and changes both inherent to the organization of HCs and in the policy landscape. By using the interpretative concept of institutional logics, the article shows that supportive policies allowed some HCs focused on renting to grow in Milan but entailed a path-dependent social orientation that jeopardized their housing production when policies were cut. HCs focused on owner-occupation could instead develop a commercial orientation and expanded even in times of real estate growth, while socially-oriented HCs stagnated and were crowded out by market actors.