The Potentials of a Strong Social Housing Sector: The Case of Turks and Somalis in the Copenhagen Housing Market

The paper investigates ethnic minority concentration within social housing and the potentials of a strong social housing sector through an analysis of the housing careers of Somalis and Turks in Copenhagen. In a Danish context, the two ethnic groups differ greatly with respect to migration history, socio-economic resources and family characteristics as well as distribution between tenures. It is therefore interesting to study whether these differences lead to differences in housing market choices and constraints. The majority of the interviewed Somalis and Turks made their housing careers within the social housing sector, which to the interviewees offered good housing options and possibilities for shaping their own housing careers. The majority of the Somalis perceived paying interest as being incompatible with Islam. Renting thus allowed them to adhere to their religious beliefs. The advantages of the social housing sector limited the pull of owner-occupied housing. The paper thus questions the use of the home-ownership gap as an indication of a lack of ethnic minority integration.