Globalising homeownership: housing privatisation schemes and the private rental sector in post-socialist Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

Research has shown how private homeownership features prominently in housing policy on a global basis. Little critique exists, however, on how property is framed in more contemporary privatisation policies unfolding in today's post-socialist cities. Taking the case study of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, this article examines the extent to which the government and international community remain focused on homeownership to the detriment of developing policies and legislation on other housing tenure, notably rental housing. The article examines two contemporary housing programmes: the introduction of homeowner associations and the government's approach towards informal settlements on the city's outskirts. These two programmes are examined as an entrenchment of earlier privatisation programmes introduced in the late 1980s and 1990s which resulted in the sale of state housing and the distribution of land on the city's outskirts. The results indicate that tenants often remain either invisible or their rights are subjugated to the owner's interests in contemporary housing policy and legislation. Moreover, where their rights are legally recognised, a disjuncture exists between representations and the reality of property that reflect wider notions of 'fuzzy' post-socialist property rights.