Access to and exclusion from housing over time: Refugees' experiences in rural areas

Taking the example of recognized refugees in rural Germany, and following the housing pathways approach, the paper addresses the complex interplay of individual and family-related residential preferences over time as well as structural factors regarding access to housing and associated settlement and integration. Results are from a long-term empirical study that encompassed both refugees' and local actors' views. Mechanisms and practices of exclusion that prevent refugees from accessing appropriate private housing are related to the negotiation of residential preferences about where and how to live, as well as to structural aspects such as the pattern of local housing markets, accessibility of infrastructures or the unwillingness of landlords to let to refugees. The paper concludes to highlight the role of place in housing trajectories and the significance of social resources within refugees' practices and local intermediaries' strategies to overcome exclusion and provision of access to rural housing.