The emerging role of cooperatives in the management of public housing in Italy. Opportunities and limitations of the ”Valorization-alternative-to-sale” policy in Lombardy

Many public housing units in Italy are vacant or in critical need of repair due to continuous political withdrawal and a structural lack of funds. To cover overheads with low rents – linked by law to the income of poor households – Italian public housing organizations and municipal authorities were turned into companies despite their welfare function and rely largely on the sale of properties to balance their budgets. In the context of protracted disinvestment in public housing, the paper adds to the growing body of research on cooperatives’ role in hybrid housing policies. By investigating the regional upscaling of a pioneering partnership in Milan, codified in the “Valorization-alternative-to-sale” law by the Lombardy regional government, we explore the opportunities and limitations of partnerships between public authorities and cooperatives for the management of public housing in alternative to the sale of the stock.