Feeling Home? : Policy Framing and Lived Experience of Social Mix in Affordable Housing

Abstract

State-subsidised rental housing in Finland has historically supported equal access to housing for all residents regardless of their socioeconomic status. However, recent institutional changes and constraints have increased the selectivity within the ARA-Varke system, raising concerns about its capacity to maintain affordability and inclusiveness. The thesis asks how residents of state-subsidised rental housing in Kalasatama, Helsinki, perceive affordable housing and social mixing through their everyday lived experiences, and how these perceptions align with the city’s housing policy frameworks. The study adopts a qualitative approach, drawing on semi-structured interviews with residents of Heka apartments and comparing them with policy and planning document analysis. Guided by the housing pathways framework and perspectives on lived experiences, the analysis explores how housing is evaluated as a biographical and everyday process. The findings reveal a persistent gap between policy framings and lived experience. Yet, this gap is argued to be structurally inherent in the relationship between policy and lived experiences. Affordability is experienced as an ongoing negotiation and a coping mechanism, while dwelling dissatisfaction often coexists with neighbourhood satisfaction. Social mix is valued spatially; however, experiences of inclusion and belonging vary across residents. Rather than trying to eliminate this mismatch, housing policy can create conditions that support residents in forming a sense of home, although it cannot solely determine it.