Housing and Migration : Immigrant Housing Policy as the Beginning and the End of a Successful Establishment for Asylum-seekers and Refugees

Abstract: Due to a steady increase in the number of asylum-seekers in Sweden over the past few years, the topic of immigration has generated increased attention. As a consequence, the political parties have recently presented a range of policy changes. Several of the policy proposals addressed the current housing situation for asylum-seekers and refugees. The aim of this master’s thesis is to highlight the areas of asylum immigration policy and housing policy, in an attempt to reveal overlaps and interrelationships which influence the establishment of asylum-seekers and refugees in their host society. By using a comparative discourse analysis, the thesis investigates the concepts of migration and domestic immigrant policies in a European context, focusing on Italy, the United Kingdom and Denmark. This is followed by an in-depth study of Sweden. The Swedish perspective is enriched by qualitative expert interviews and statistical data on migration and housing. The results from the gathered research emphasises the great influence of domestic housing policies have on asylum-seekers and refugees’ establishment. Each analysed country has structural barriers that restrict asylum-seekers and refugees from becoming established on the housing market. These policy barriers operate on different governance levels, which mutually affect each other. In turn, this situation complicates a holistic approach to create an effective immigrant housing policy.