A European Agenda for Social housing by PES CoR

QG-30-12-443-EN-C

EUROPEAN UNION

Committee of the Regions

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

EUROPEAN UNION

Committee of the Regions

PES Group Secretariat A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union 2012 — 187 pp. — 14.8 × 21 cm ISBN 978-92-895-0569-7 doi:10.2863/45977

PES Group Secretariat Committee of the Regions Rue Belliard 101, office JDE 7035 1040 BRUSSELS General Phone : +32 2 282 22.23 General Fax : +32 2 282 20 69 PES-Group@cor.europa.eu www.pes.cor.europa.eu Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2012 ISBN 978-92-895-0569-7 doi:10.2863/45977 © European Union, 2012 Printed in Luxembourg

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

EUROPEAN UNION

Committee of the Regions

CONTENTS

FOREWORD .....................................................................................................................................4 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 10 Decent housing for all, a political priority for the Group of European Socialists in the Committee of the Regions ...................................................................................................................................................10 PART I ............................................................................................................................................ 13 Setting a European agenda for social housing ........................................................................................................13 Affordable and universally accessible housing for economic stability ............................................16 Better governance for affordable and universally accessible housing ............................................24 Affordable and universally accessible housing for social inclusion ...................................................30 Smart growth for affordable and universally accessible housing .......................................................44 Universally accessible energy-efficient housing for sustainable environment ..........................50

PART II ........................................................................................................................................... 59 Provision of social housing across the EU ...................................................................................................................59 Austria.......................................................................................................................................................................................60 Belgium....................................................................................................................................................................................64 Czech Republic ...................................................................................................................................................................70 France .......................................................................................................................................................................................76 Germany..................................................................................................................................................................................85 Italy .............................................................................................................................................................................................94 Luxembourg ......................................................................................................................................................................100 Malta .......................................................................................................................................................................................104 Poland....................................................................................................................................................................................109 Spain .......................................................................................................................................................................................115 United Kingdom .............................................................................................................................................................120 PART III ........................................................................................................................................ 127 Europa Habitabilis: housing through the lens of Loïc Delvaulx .................................................................127 Brussels .................................................................................................................................................................................130 Budapest ..............................................................................................................................................................................139 Dunkirk..................................................................................................................................................................................155 Lisbon ....................................................................................................................................................................................166 Malmö ...................................................................................................................................................................................178 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... 187

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

FOREWORD Dear friends, Decent and affordable housing for all is a key preoccupation for the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions. This is why we put housing at the heart of our 2010–11 campaign calling for ‘More than just a roof over my head’. Housing is a precondition for social participation, for integration into society and for contributing to the development of a fair society. We are not settling for just a ‘roof over someone’s head’, but are urging for decent housing, which allows people to live in dignity. The PES Group in the Committee of the Regions brings together locally and regionally elected socialists, social democrats and progressives, who have experience in the provision of housing on a daily basis. We are also all too familiar with difficulties created by conflicting EU legislation in other policy areas, creating obstacles for established schemes at local or regional level to support decent, sustainable social housing. That is why we decided to make our call for a coherent European framework and a genuine European agenda for social housing the focus of our campaign. We complemented our action by bringing the issue on the political agenda of the CoR through the own-initiative opinion by Alain Hutchinson, which received overwhelming support by the institution. Moreover, our contribution to the Convention of the Party of European Socialists, held in November 2011, consisted of a plethora of activities revolving around the theme of social housing and sending a loud and clear message that there is an urgent need for action at European level.

FOREWORD

These are all small but important steps towards raising awareness about the crucial importance that such a basic thing as housing has for citizens. With this publication, we want to lay another brick in this building project and showcase what others have done in their respective regions and cities. Together, we have to continue this work to make sure that the European construction gets a real housing dimension at last. I wish you an interesting read. With fraternal greetings, Karl-Heinz Lambertz President of the PES Group in the CoR

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

A home is much more than just a place to live. It is vital for people’s mental and physical health, as well as their social integration. Social housing is meant to provide to the neediest members of society the security of a home, and as such it underpins social cohesion and helps people get on in life.

Mercedes Bresso President of the Committee of the Regions

The provision of social housing remains crucial for millions of households across the EU, particularly for those hit by the current crisis. Hence, improving the quality of existing housing stock and increasing the number of units available constitute a major challenge. This is why local and regional authorities, those most often responsible for such services, are struggling to deliver under the weight of continuing austerity measures. I am afraid this is not just a financial issue. It is a matter of political will, or rather, the lack of it. It is up to us, European decision-makers, to make social housing a priority. And it is Europe’s socialists and social democrats who are taking the lead in an effort to put this crucial issue top of the European political agenda. Our vision for the communities we want to live in translates into decent and affordable housing for all, and that is exactly what we are fighting for.

FOREWORD

More than ever before, the crisis has highlighted the need for adequate social housing for all. The private and public investment needed to build more social housing across the EU must be mobilised urgently. It is equally important to improve the quality of the existing social housing stock, particularly with regard to reducing energy poverty and increasing energy efficiency through refurbishment. This will improve living conditions for tenants and have environmental benefits, whilst also creating millions of new jobs. It is also crucial to implement strong social legislation to protect the rights of the tenants of social housing. Problems of social exclusion and at times exploitation, often by loan sharks, must be prevented. A fairer Europe, based on solidarity, has a responsibility to ensure all people have a home, not just as a right, but as a reality.

Sergei Stanishev Interim President of the PartyÂ ofÂ European Socialists

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

Housing is a basic human right for everyone, even for those who have very little money. Social housing helps to provide affordable rents for those concerned. This is an important achievement of the 20th century and an integral and indispensable part of our societies.

Martin Schulz President of the European Parliament

FOREWORD

Almost one third of women throughout the world do not have access to housing or live in inadequate housing conditions. Moreover, although women’s labour makes up two thirds of world labour, women own less than 1 % of the land property in the world. Although the picture is less bleak in Europe, women still encounter greater problems in accessing housing, not least due to the persistent gender pay gap and the all too frequent feminisation of poverty. Therefore, a European policy that ensures equal access to decent and affordable housing should also be gender sensitive in order to effectively address the multiple discriminations faced by women. Zita Gurmai MEP (S & D Group), President of PES Women

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

INTRODUCTION Decent housing for all, a political priority for the Group of European Socialists in the Committee of the Regions. Housing as a fundamental human right According to Article 34(3) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, ‘In order to combat social exclusion and poverty, the Union recognises and respects the right to social and housing assistance so as to ensure a decent existence for all those who lack sufficient resources, in accordance with the rules laid down by Community law and national laws and practices’. The right to housing constitutes a fundamental right and is also acknowledged as such by the European Social Charter and some national constitutions. However, a lot needs to be done across the EU to ensure access to decent housing for all. The PES Group in the CoR considers that housing is an issue of the utmost importance for long-term economic and social policy beyond the current context of the crisis which is in large part linked to difficulties with access to housing. In a European Union where some 44 million citizens are at risk of poverty and where housing often accounts for more than 40 % of a household’s budget, access to housing should not be seen as an objective in isolation but should become a priority of economic and social policy in the European Union and the Member States. It should be emphasised that housing policy, and social housing in particular, is all too often the indirect result of an overlap between a number of different policy areas (competition, single market, structural funds, social inclusion policy) rather than a genuine priority. This is why the PES Group has strived to help provide the impetus needed for a European agenda for social housing, by making the voice of the local and regional authorities heard in the political discussion at EU level.

INTRODUCTION

The bursting of the housing bubble: some facts and figures Locally and regionally elected socialists and social democrats are committed to promoting a social mix and preventing speculation on the housing market. This is, however, a challenging task. Although speculative bubbles are not uncommon, the magnitude and global scale of the rise in housing costs in the wake of the economic and financial crisis has no historical precedent. In Europe, Member States have not all been affected in the same way and their housing markets are radically different. However, in all but a handful of countries, the cost of housing has risen rapidly and now represents a considerable share of the household budget for Europe’s low-income families. The following facts and figures are far from reassuring. — Between 1995 and 2008, real house prices had nearly tripled in Ireland, had multiplied by about two and a half in the United Kingdom and had approximately doubled in nine other OECD countries. — Over the same period the affordability (price to income) ratio reached historic highs (levels never previously attained), exceeding 150 in seven countries (with 100 corresponding to the normal value of an affordable housing market). — Finally, average household debt, of which mortgages are the main constituent, represented about 1 year of household disposable income in 1995. By 2000, debt had risen to about 120 % of this amount and in 2007 it was close to 170 %.

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

The way forward With increasing difficulties in accessing housing, it is not surprising that the demand for social housing is on the rise. The pressure is particularly felt by local and regional authorities, which, in many cases, are responsible for formulating and implementing social housing policy, regulating access to decent housing and inspecting and maintaining housing standards. Moreover, they are increasingly aiming at housing that is sustainable both environmentally and socially. Given that social housing is at the intersection of social, environmental and economic concerns, it is affected by the policies developed in these areas at EU level. Therefore, a policy that would address this burning issue at European level is imperative. The contributions that follow confirm this urgent call.

PART I Setting a European agenda for social housing

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

INTRODUCTION

At a time when the full force of the crisis has hit millions of Europeans, driven from their homes because they cannot keep up their payments, when hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens live in unacceptable, precarious conditions, when there is a scandalous spread in homelessness, it is high time that social housing policies were elaborated at European level. The PES Group in the Committee of the Regions has affirmed its call for a European agenda for social housing in an own-initiative report, approved by an overwhelming majority of the assembly of the Committee of the Regions (available at http://bit.ly/socialhousing-cor-en). The report sums up the scattered European policies which, directly or indirectly, have a bearing on housing policies. It critically addresses decisions which, by their very nature, can help or hinder local or regional initiatives aiming to provide accommodation for all European citizens. Decent and affordable housing for all men and women is a crucial issue that cannot be resolved unless the attention of EU authorities is at last drawn to this alarming socioeconomic phenomenon.

Alain Hutchinson Member of the Brussels-Capital Regional Parliament Member of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions and rapporteur of the own-initiative opinion ‘Towards a European agenda for social housing’

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

Affordable and universally accessible housing forÂ economic stability

AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING FOR ECONOMIC STABILITY

It is necessary to avoid housing bubbles forming in future, due to their impact on both social and financial stability. In this regard, the European Commissionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new proposed rules for a single market for mortgages, which extend to the period before the signature of the contract and aim to create an adapted framework for market actors involved in the granting of loans, should provide better protection for consumers, especially for low-income households, without making it impossible for them to access housing. Models for (supported and monitored) access to social housing already exist, and form an integral part of social housing policy that this new directive must not cut back.

The economic imbalances caused by the prohibitive cost of housing have a significant impact on household consumption patterns. Low-income households in Europe spend on average 40 % of their income on housing and heating, and this percentage is increasing steadily.

Member States should therefore ensure that all citizens can afford housing by basing rent increases on an objective system which ensures moderate increases in property prices and adapting tax policy to limit speculation.

Investment in social housing is to be supported, and therefore risk assessments for residential property investment should take account of the specific nature of social housing, which does not present the same risks as the rest of the real estate sector;

The European Investment Bank (EIB) needs to increase its investment in this sector considerably, as high-quality, energy-efficient and affordable housing is a form of infrastructure for local economic development, particularly in those Member States where there is no state housing bank. The EIB also needs to improve the terms for the loans issued, taking into account the particular need to establish a significant rental housing bank in some regions, in order to meet the requirements of the neediest members of the population who have no way of becoming property owners.

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

Stephen Hughes was born in Sunderland (UK) in 1952. He attended Leeds University and Newcastle Polytechnic where he was awarded the Diploma in Municipal Administration (DMA). Before being elected for the first time to the European Parliament in 1984, he was a local government officer. He has in the past served as both constituency secretary and election agent on behalf of the Labour Party.

Stephen Hughes MEP Vice-President of the S & D Group, responsible for economic and social model policy

Since 1984, Stephen Hughes has served as Member of the European Parliament. Being very close to the trade union movement, the focus of his work has always been on better rights and protection for workers. As an MEP, he has produced reports on a number of subjects related to health and safety at work, young people and pregnant women at work, working time and physical agents. Stephen Hughes was elected Deputy Leader of the EP’s Group of Socialists and Democrats in July 2009 and holds the employment and social affairs portfolio, with responsibility for economic and social policy, the internal market, equality and culture.

AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING FOR ECONOMIC STABILITY

Affordable and universally accessible housing is essential for both economic stability and economic growth. Grant Shapps, the UK’s Conservative Housing Minister, told the British Home Builders Federation at a meeting in May 2011 that ‘Getting house-building going is essential to increasing the pace of economic growth.’ It is perhaps not surprising therefore that as economic growth continues to flatline in the UK we see a growing crisis in housing. The number of overcrowded households in Britain has grown from 526 000 in 2006 to 630 000 in 2010. There are 10 000 homeless households and the number is rising. Around 50 000 families are living in temporary accommodation. To make matters worse, the supply of housing is set to fall woefully short of demand during the coalition’s spending review period, which will take us through to March 2015. The government says it will deliver 170 000 new affordable homes over a 4-year period. The housing charity Shelter estimates that at least 97 000 affordable homes need to be completed annually to keep pace with demand. So while we should be building almost 400 000 new affordable homes over that 4-year period we will deliver, at best, 170 000, thus adding still more to socially corrosive overcrowding and homelessness. In reality even that target of 170 000 seems hopelessly optimistic given the level of spending commitment. Now, I recognise that the correlation between these statistics and growth is complex and indirect, but there is no doubt that these obvious failures in the UK housing market will act as a drag anchor on the prospects for economic growth.

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

Residents, families and individuals living in inadequate housing conditions and with the emotional and social turmoil they create face very real barriers in remaining connected to the world of work. For those who overcome the barriers and find work, these adverse factors in their lives will inevitably mean that they are less than optimal members of the workforce. In a video shown at the annual conference of the European Federation of Building and Wood Workers, the trade union federation covering the construction sector, I pointed out that in the UK alone we should be building almost 400 000 new sustainable and affordable homes over the next 4 years. Imagine if we did that. What would the implications be for broader society and for the economy? Well, 400 000 households would be living healthier and more secure lives in accommodation that would be far better in terms of environmental performance. And 400 000 new households would be in the market for fridges, washing machines, carpets, furniture — all of the things that support modern family living — generating a surge in demand across the economy. This would not only boost construction employment by tens of thousands directly, but also jobs in a whole range of other sectors. Crucially these would be greener jobs too, given the sustainability conditions built into the provision of new housing stock and all of the appliances that go into a new home. Further prospects for boosting green employment can also be found in the energy-related renovation of social housing. The problem is that the EU’s macroeconomic policy is recklessly and completely focused upon debt and deficit reduction, fiscal consolidation and austerity. Even though the alarm bells of falling growth rates are ringing out, they carry on regardless. These ill-founded obsessions are squeezing out the possibility of the types of sensible public investment that I have been describing.

AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING FOR ECONOMIC STABILITY

The S & D Group in the European Parliament has produced under my leadership a well thought out alternative to these policies. It calls for an employment and growth pact, allowing scope for maintaining sensible levels of public investment as well as driving down debt and deficits over a more sensible time-frame. It calls for the mutualisation of sovereign debt and the issuance of Eurobonds. It sets out the case for a financial transaction tax (FTT) and other actions on the revenue side of the balance sheet. And it underlines the need for tougher financial regulation. At the same time, the provision of accessible and affordable housing has obvious implications for growth and employment, while being important for economic stability. Clear examples of the instability and dysfunction that can develop can be seen in the housing bubbles that developed in Ireland, the UK, Spain, France and Italy in the lead-up to the financial crisis and the spectacular way in which those bubbles burst once the crisis was upon us. As a result, balance in housing markets is now included as one of the indicators of macroeconomic balance or imbalance in the new macroeconomic surveillance scoreboard which forms an important part of the new European semester. The European Commission proposal on the scoreboard was, incidentally, the only one of the macroeconomic six-pack of proposals that we, the S & D Group, were able to support outright in the vote in the European Parliament, and that was down to the excellent work of our socialist rapporteur, Elisa Ferreira, who, against heavy odds, managed to include a number of real as well as nominal indicators in the text; for example poverty, employment and unemployment. In a nutshell, it goes without saying that affordable and universally accessible housing is essential for both economic stability and economic growth.

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

Further reading International Union of Tenants: the ‘Dutch case’ Tenants’ campaign against the lower income limit for social housing in the Netherlands Campaign website: http://www.ikwilookwonen.nl The European Commission’s decision that ‘social housing needs to be limited to a clearly defined target group of disadvantaged citizens or socially less advantaged groups’ is heavily criticized by the Dutch Union of Tenants, the Nederlandse Woonbond. In March 2011, the Woonbond launched an Internet portal (http://www.ikwilookwonen.nl) for people who could not find affordable apartments because of the lower income limit set by the Dutch government as a result of the European Commission’s decision. Households with a gross income of between EUR 34 085 (inflation indexed in 2012) and EUR 43 000 no longer have access to the affordable housing stock of the Netherlands’ housing corporations. Private rental market accommodation is too expensive and home ownership is not an option because these people are not sufficiently solvent for bank mortgages. In February 2012, 4 000 specific complaints from Dutch citizens published on the website were handed over to the Dutch Home Affairs Minister responsible for public housing, Ms Liesbeth Spies. The minister promised the Woonbond activists that she would go back to Brussels and negotiate with the European Commission for a higher income ceiling for social housing in the Netherlands. The Woonbond’s position is supported by the housing corporations, the Dutch network of municipalities and the four large cities, Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht.

AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING FOR ECONOMIC STABILITY

Another milestone in the case was the European Parliament’s decision of November 2011 on the reform of EU state aid rules on services of general economic interest. The European Parliament states that public services must be of high quality and accessible to all sections of the population, and criticizes the European Commission’s restrictive stance in the ‘Dutch case’ as being at odds with the higher goal of fostering an appropriate social mix and universal access to affordable social housing. IUT is a non-governmental organisation, founded in 1926 in Zürich, Switzerland, whose purpose is to safeguard the interests of tenants and promote affordable, healthy rental housing throughout the world. IUT has consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council and the ECE (Economic Commission for Europe — Committee on Housing and Land Management) and participatory status with the Council of Europe.

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

Better governance for affordable and universally accessible housing

BETTER GOVERNANCE FOR AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING

Member States should ensure that the informal meetings of housing ministers continue to act as a forum for exchanging information and improving understanding of national policies and contexts, but also for adopting positions on subjects with a major impact on national housing policy, especially its financing.

Eurostat should be asked to produce a specific Eurobarometer on housing conditions and prices, given the importance of housing in the daily lives of citizens of the European Union. The Eurostat indicators (price, quality) on the housing element of social inclusion should be published regularly so that progress in the field can be evaluated, and these indicators should be supplemented by regional and local statistics.

Social innovation should be supported both by the EU platform against poverty, which is part of the Europe 2020 strategy, and by Horizon 2020, the EUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new framework programme for research and innovation, in order to test new forms of governance for policies aiming to improve access to housing and reduce homelessness.

The European Parliamentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Urban Housing Intergroup should hold regular meetings with the Committee of the Regions on the housing element of European policies, particularly in terms of urban policy.

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

Claire Roumet Secretary-General of Cecodhas (European Liaison Committee for Social Housing)

Claire Roumet graduated in economics, continuing with a postgraduate in European policies at the Strasbourg Institute of Political Studies. She first worked for the European Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lobby, an EU network active in the field of womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rights. She then worked as an expert on social economy and the development of the European third sector for the European Commission. She currently holds the position of Secretary General of Cecodhas. The committee, a network of national and regional social housing federations gathering 4 500 public, voluntary housing organisations and 28 000 housing cooperatives, works towards a Europe that provides access to decent and affordable housing for all in communities which are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable and where all are enabled to reach their full potential.

Housing policy governance varies according to country, region and housing provider. Every system of delivering affordable housing has been shaped by history and local particularities, however, and each one is affected by European policies over its various stages. Let us look at the social housing sector as a good example of European integration, one which is making slow but steady progress every year. Interestingly, it could be creating opportunities and giving rise to a much more positive framework than we think. We will see, however, that progress has to be made to take forward the European project, which is at stake every day and in which co-production of services and of policies is not the dominant democratic culture of the time.

BETTER GOVERNANCE FOR AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING

Let us consider how housing and European policies interact at each tier of governance: at project, local authority, regional authority and ministry level. This will not be an exhaustive list of the links amongst those levels, but rather of significant and representative policy developments currently under intense discussion in Brussels. The project to deliver social housing. EU state aid rules apply to any public support received by a provider that might affect competition with other actors. Since the 2005 Monti–Kroes package, it has been agreed that social housing projects, being a service of general economic interest (SGEI), do not have to give notification of state aid received. However, this ‘non-notification’ is only possible if the target group of social housing beneficiaries is defined as ‘vulnerable’. Social housing systems were designed decades ago to complement social welfare systems, which means that some systems are so-called ‘universal’ systems and some ‘targeted’. Some of these systems were therefore not recognised as SGEIs. In the case of the Netherlands and Sweden, governments had to redefine their allocation criteria (or in the case of Sweden, stop all state aid to the public housing sector). At city level, the latest EU proposals on energy efficiency (energy efficiency directive) have a major impact on local authority spending, as the European Commission included an obligation to refurbish 3 % of the public stock annually in its proposal. Publicly owned housing would be included in the obligation, which means massive investment. This proposal is now being negotiated with the European Parliament and the Council. It is not clear what the end result of the process will be, but it will certainly have a considerable impact on the sector.

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

At regional level, however, the EU may provide a very interesting framework for the consideration of housing as part of the necessary infrastructure for delivering territorial cohesion and green growth. In its proposals for the future cohesion policy 2014â&#x20AC;&#x201C;20, the European Commission has made investment in housing an eligible expenditure. This constitutes a substantial paradigmatic shift (previously, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) had only two categories of non-eligible expenditure: nuclear energy and housing). Housing refurbishment, especially, is high on the agenda, as at least 20 % of the ERDF should be spent on renewable and energy efficiency, but for the first time, housing is being seen as major social infrastructure and improving living conditions a key target of cohesion policy. Finally, national housing policies. This is a quite unexpected development resulting from the crisis. Housing market imbalances have been and still are at the heart of the financial and economic crisis. The debt crisis is one aspect of it, but other macroeconomic imbalances will need to be corrected if we want to achieve sustainable growth. Housing has become unaffordable for many European households; the level of private debt has reached an unsustainable level; housing markets are speculative and do not match demand, not only at the very end of the market but for the vast majority of needs. This is also the conclusion reached by the Commission in its proposals for strengthened economic surveillance; one of the ten indicators will monitor housing prices. Member States will have to formulate their policies to ensure that housing markets deliver, and the European Commission will evaluate whether the proposed solutions are adequate and sufficient. The good news is that the Commission has noted that diversifying housing supply and increasing it substantially and reforming tax incentives for home ownership in most countries is essential. More investment in social and affordable housing is recognised as necessary, therefore, not only for those whose needs we are advocating, but also for stable and economic growth.

BETTER GOVERNANCE FOR AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING

Other policies directly impact upon housing policies. They have been detailed in the Committee of the Regions’ own-initiative report ‘Towards a EU agenda for social housing’, adopted in October 2011. So we still have some political work to do. Cecodhas Housing Europe, ‘The federation of public, cooperative and social housing’, is a network of national and regional social housing federations gathering together 4 500 public, voluntary housing organisations and 28 000 housing cooperatives. Together, the 45 members in 19 EU Member States manage 25 million dwellings. Cecodhas members work together for a Europe that provides access to decent and affordable housing for all in communities which are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable and where all are enabled to reach their full potential.

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

Affordable and universally accessible housing for social inclusion

AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION

The European Union’s poverty-reduction target for 2020 requires that Member States and local and regional authorities develop ambitious implementation programmes.

The housing dimension should be a mainstay of these implementation programmes and be backed up by investments and policies to increase the supply of decent, affordable housing, including both ownership and tenancy.

Inadequate housing conditions have a significant impact on health and providing better housing means that residents do not have to suffer the adverse effects of overcrowded, damp, cold and poorly ventilated housing. A lack of housing is a source of both stress and distress, adversely affecting the quality of life, health and wellbeing of individuals, families and society.

A solution to the issue of homelessness must be found as a matter of urgency and, to this end, it is necessary to coordinate the application of all policies with an impact on homelessness.

A variety of housing solutions need to be developed to meet the burgeoning variety of needs, and an option to bridge between rental and private ownership should be provided, such as cooperatives, shared equity, land trust communities and suchlike. Member States must support local and regional authorities in maintaining and increasing the diversity of the housing supply, taking into account the mechanisms needed to update the housing stock without promoting access to ownership to the detriment of other forms of access to housing.

It is important to prevent and reduce harmful differentiation in residential areas via urban and social policy measures.

In addition to the option of using EU structural funds for housing for marginalised groups — a measure that should continue in the next programming period as it responds to the imperative that accommodation unfit for habitation be eradicated — the EU structural funds (European Social Fund (ESF) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)) also need to be better integrated in order to promote sustainable development in disadvantaged areas. The redevelopment of run-down neighbourhoods must not lead to gentrification, and social diversity programmes should be established to promote social cohesion.

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

Barbara Steenbergen studied political science at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms University of Bonn and obtained a Magister Artium (Master of Arts) in 1995. From 1995 until 2001 she worked in a regional council in North Rhine-Westphalia. She was head of the president’s office and coordinator for energy policy and international affairs of the Deutsche Mieterbund e.V. (German Union of Tenants) in Berlin from 2001 to 2007. Since 2007 she has been the head of the EU liaison office of the IUT in Brussels. Since 2009 she has been the co-chair of the European Housing Forum (EHF).

Barbara Steenbergen Head of the EU liaison office of the International Union of Tenants (IUT)

The right to suitable and high-quality housing at affordable prices is a basic right and should be enshrined in the constitutions of EU Member States and be a fundamental principle of a social Europe. It should also be part of the EU Constitution. Basic social rights are crucial to public acceptance of the European Union. Housing is tremendously important to everyone. It is where people spend much of their lives and serves as the basis for social contact with others. It should not be reduced to its function as a commodity. Housing is always also a social good. Homelessness is one of the most severe forms of exclusion. In Europe, housing and energy costs make up the largest share of household expenditure. On average, Europeans spend 30 % of their income on living costs. In low-income households — particularly ones with single parents looking after small children — it can be as high as 40 %. Inflated rents and constant price hikes entail a massive redistribution of income from the bottom upwards. Around 16 % of Europe’s population — 78 million people — is at risk of poverty.

AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION

A fair housing policy promotes home ownership, housing cooperatives and renting in equal measure, and prioritises the needs of residents. Freedom to choose between different housing solutions is important. This choice is not currently allowed. In almost all European countries, home ownership is promoted at the expense of other solutions. Rent control and legally enshrined protection against unwarranted eviction are essential to offering real freedom of choice in the housing market. In many countries — particularly those in central and eastern Europe — tenants are in a precarious legal position. Countries in western and northern Europe could provide assistance in improving legal and contractual frameworks. The prioritisation of home ownership constrains construction of new rental accommodation. The scarcity of affordable rental accommodation — particularly in European capitals, economic centres and universities — contributes significantly to the impoverishment of low- and middle-income earners. In northern European countries, state-owned rental accommodation accounts for a considerably higher proportion of the market. The southern and eastern European countries are instead classic property-owning societies. In Spain, home owners make up 78 % of the market. It is a hard and fast rule of housing markets that weaker groups live in inferior accommodation, and stronger groups in superior accommodation. The primary feature of weaker groups is irregular income and short-term, insecure employment contracts. Young people, in particular, count among the weakest groups in the housing market. We need a new social housing subsidy specifically for young people. Around 51 million people — that is almost half (46 %) of all young people in the EU — still live with their parents. The International Union of Tenants (IUT) has made concrete policy recommendations to improve the housing situation of young people (Further reading, page 36).

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

Gentrification is a new threat to low- and middle-income households living in city centres. In many cases, gentrification starts with enthusiastic renovation. In 21 European Union and EU candidate countries, the cost of renovation can be passed on to tenants either in full or in part. Energy-efficient housing must not become a privilege of the rich. Public subsidies should serve three ends: security of investment and reliability for landlords; affordability of rents through price indexation; and a basic guarantee that any renovation work will be price-neutral for tenants in terms of the total cost of rent and heating. A defining characteristic of a socially just city is the creation and safeguarding of affordable and adequate accommodation in liveable and safe neighbourhoods. The goal of our advocacy at the European level is to have housing policy recognised as a key pillar of cohesion policy. European structural subsidies, such as the ESF or the ERDF, should be tailored to improve quality of life in residential districts. Public providers of accommodation that are run on a tenant-oriented, non-profit basis play a key role in socially just urban development. EU subsidy programmes should be reoriented so as to encourage more investment in our city districts and neighbourhoods. Privatisation and capitalisation of the public housing stock are an increasing threat across Europe. Financial instruments (e.g. real estate investment trusts) that simplify trading in large amounts of property and thereby encourage speculation should be tightly regulated and banned from the residential sector.

AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION

Housing policy is the sole responsibility of EU Member States. The principle of subsidiarity requires it to stay that way. A balanced housing market must include a sufficient amount of affordable accommodation. This should continue to be safeguarded as part of efforts to promote socially just housing. We stand for a broad definition of social housing. EU internal market regulations must respect the peculiarities of national systems in promoting social housing. They remain a national competence. According to the European Commission, social housing should be limited to a clearly defined target group of disadvantaged households. This decision, issued with reference to a legal action against the Netherlands, breaches the principle of subsidiarity. The IUT is fiercely opposed to this decision. If social housing is concentrated exclusively on the poorest households, it will be marginalised. Social and economic segregation and stigmatisation of tenants will follow. We need a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;new dealâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for affordable housing. The housing and construction sector is one of the largest sectors in Europe. It is also a key industry in terms of sustainable economic growth. Promotion of investment in affordable housing and liveable neighbourhoods is a route out of the crisis. Socially just urban development should serve to improve living conditions and respect the needs of residents. Socially just urban development is the right tool to prevent the imbalances and instability that segregation triggers. In future, EU structural funds must be targeted towards combating ghettos and creating stable neighbourhoods with affordable housing.

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“A European housing directive has to be developed. This should exclude social housing from the scope of the market economy and improve accessibility to decent housing and housing conditions, especially for students, working youth and those less-favoured groups which are particularly affected by poverty, such as disadvantaged people and the elderly. More attention should be paid to the issue of homelessness, by providing care, imparting basic skills and promoting social integration.”

Kaisa Penny President of ECOSY, Young European Socialists

AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION

Further reading International Union of Tenants (IUT) Affordable rental housing for the young — Make it happen now! Policy recommendations related to how to strengthen the housing market position of young people Recommendation 1 Acknowledge the right to housing as a fundamental human right The right to adequate housing is a precondition for the exercise of most other fundamental human rights. Housing is a fundamental right and a social good; thus, it has to be a part of national constitutions as well of the Lisbon Treaty. Especially in the new Member States, the CEE countries and the accession states of the EU, fundamental rights have to be watched and monitored by independent institutions e.g. the EU Commissioner in charge of Justice and Fundamental Rights and the Commissioner for Human Rights at the Council of Europe. Even if the revised European Social Charter, in Article 31, explicitly protects the right to housing and drives states to promote access to housing, it is currently binding only for countries that have ratified it (31 countries up to now). Making the right to housing enforceable is not enough since it does not go hand in hand with the actual increase of supply of affordable housing as should logically happen. Recommendation 2 Member States should guarantee social rent law and strengthen tenants’ rights To achieve a level playing field with equal status for homeowners, users and tenants, the first precondition is the implementation of a social rent law. Member States should guarantee a social rent law, secure tenure and strengthen tenants’ rights. Secure tenure can increase economic growth, address inequalities and reduce poverty in developing countries as it can also provide opportunities for investment and the accumulation of wealth. Secure tenure is about more than just economic assets. It also provides a source of identity, status and political power and serves as a basis for the pursuit and acquisition of other rights.

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Recommendation 3 Oppose gentrification provoked by energy retrofitting The social dimension of a stable national and EU funding policy for energy-efficient renovation is central for tenants. In 21 countries of the European Union and the accession states, owners and landlords can pass all or part of the renovation costs to the tenant. In many cases the rent increases lead to a gentrification process, with poor households being forced to leave their flats after the renovation. If the landlord uses public funding (subsidies or loans) for energy renovations, those costs may not be passed to the tenants. Recommendation 4 Promote tenure-neutral housing policy The current housing policies in most of the EU countries subsidise home ownership, mainly through tax incentives. This has led to increasing prices, especially in booming regions, and insufficient supply of affordable rental housing. During an economic crisis, it would be wise to invest in affordable rental housing, since it creates more jobs than other construction investments. Every national housing policy should support the freedom of choice of the consumers of the market. Therefore, home ownership, cooperative rental housing and rental housing should be treated legally equally, with the same financial support from governments with no marginalisation of the rental sector. Home ownership policies disadvantage young adults. Using Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data on the shares of owner-occupied housing across the EU-15 (OECD 2004/1), researchers have found a clear relationship between the proportion of the market that is privately owned and the proportion of young adults living with their parents. A 10 % increase in owner-occupied housing is associated with about 4 % increase in the proportion living with parents. A diversified housing stock its necessary, especially after the mortgage crises, so as to provide a housing alternative to the middle- and low-income households, which include the majority of young, and to promote an inclusive urban environment.

AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION

Recommendation 5 Build enough units of affordable rental housing across all territories and increase the supply especially in booming regions and university towns In times of credit crunch, debt and euro crisis, housing demand shifts from expensive to affordable housing and from owner-occupation to rental housing. But most governments react in precisely the opposite way: they stimulate social housing providers to sell their housing stock and encourage owner-occupation policies, which will contribute to the spread of the financial crisis and the problems of the housing markets. Since the market will not regulate itself and has no social or inclusive dimension, investment in affordable housing should be seen as a public responsibility, a public good and a public service. As rental housing is an essential option for the urban poor, limiting rental housing choices will provoke an increase in slums as well as indecent and overcrowded housing conditions. This is why increasing the supply of affordable housing should be a must, especially in booming regions and university towns where there is an outstanding concentration of young people. Recommendation 6 Give more priority to young tenants in the national housing allocation systems The iron law of the housing market shows that young people primarily belong to weak groups. Temporary jobs, sudden redundancies, irregular incomes and scarce social benefits label a household as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;weakâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Weaker groups live in inferior housing while stronger groups live in superior housing. Since the exclusion of young people from the housing market will hamper the intellectual capital of the EU, the welfare state and economy, Member States should launch housing policies for young people in their respective countries so as to help young adults to pay the security deposit and secure the rent in case of arrears.

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Recommendation 7 Give higher priority to the young in social housing and expand quality student accommodation Due to the allocation and waiting list system, young people are currently excluded in the social housing sector in nearly all EU Member States. Since young people are the most mobile sector of the population, understanding the nature of this pathway is essential to the task of arriving at better policies to support people making their first housing decisions. In local and regional housing allocation systems, it is important that priorities are not entirely determined by waiting or subscription times, but that a substantial part of the urban housing stock is allocated to young tenants. Recommendation 8 Ensure a higher proportion of affordable rental stock suitable for young peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs Social housing should play an increasingly important role in responding to the demand for affordable rental housing for young people, although this may require some changes in terms of the dwellings (adapt the size of the dwelling to single or small households) as well as flexibility in allocation and contracts. Excluding young people from the social housing sector or restricting access to it only to the most disadvantaged of them will hinder social diversity. Recommendation 9 Use empty houses and convert vacant office spaces and empty dwellings into housing accommodation for young people Even if throughout Europe there is a shortage of affordable housing, the number of empty houses and vacant offices is notably high. In Spain, for instance, even if there are nearly 1 200 000 empty houses; more than 60 % of young adults still live with their parents due to the lack of affordable housing. One solution could be to use empty houses and offer incentives to the owners to rent the dwelling at the social price instead of the market price, in exchange for the security of receiving rent every month. Moreover, converting vacant offices into housing accommodation for young people can be another successful solution to the current shortage.

AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION

Recommendation 10 Deliver stable financing for housing through national youth housing programmes and income-related housing allowances Rental housing construction through low-interest loans with state guarantees might be an efficient solution to the current shortage of affordable rental housing throughout the EU. Member States should urgently consider the necessity of launching national youth housing programmes and provide incentives for housing organisations in order to encourage them to increase the available stock. Income-related housing allowances are also necessary to help young people’s housing transition. Moreover, financial aid to reduce the housing expenditure of poor households should be an integral part of social protection. Home ownership is no option for young people as they have no access to mortgages because of their precarious financial situation (short-term contracts, low salaries, etc.). Public subsidies or tax exemptions may also be considered since young people have no savings, no secure income and no jobs. Recommendation 11 Enlarge the eligibility of housing within the upcoming cohesion policy 2014–20 and reduce high energy costs for tenants and residents Since May 2009, with the amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 on the European Regional Development Fund by Regulation (EC) No 397/2009, 4 % of the ERDF allocated to an EU Member State can be used to finance renovations to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. In total, this represents about EUR 8 billion for all EU Member States in the period 2007–13. The ERDF should have a focus on social cohesion and the Member States a wide margin in defining eligible housing projects. The last criterion is essential for the European dimension of the ERDF funding in the housing field. The competence for housing policy remains at national level. EU spending should concentrate on policies with European added value, in line with the principles of subsidiarity, proportionality and solidarity. Funding of energy efficiency measures in the existing housing stock is one of the best economic, ecological and social examples of generating European added value.

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

The ERDF and the ESF should have a housing dimension and be used for the co-financing of national housing programs. The EU Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU should ensure that this funding possibility is expanded for the new structural funds period 2014–20. The European Investment Bank (EIB) should also give grants and loans for social housing plans in the EU Member States. Finally, the provision through the ESF of some EUR 20 billion, which among other things is directed towards improving social inclusion in Europe, must mean ‘housing for all’. Conclusions The Europe 2020 strategy constitutes an agreement to reduce poverty in the European Union by 20 % before 2020. The high costs of housing are strongly linked to poverty and social exclusion. At the same time, long-term difficulties in paying mortgages or rent can lead to relocation and homelessness and cause greater demands on social and affordable housing. There are three key issues in housing the young: housing quality, affordability and availability. Out of these three, availability is the main sticking point. Across Europe, it is difficult for people with a lower income to access decent, quality housing as the waiting lists for social housing are long. The EU should therefore ensure that Member States’ housing policies offer incentives for housing providers to raise the level of the social housing stock in their country. Young people’s access to housing is vital for a more inclusive society and a more social Europe. More information on IUT can be found on page 23.

AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

Smart growth for affordable and universally accessible housing

SMART GROWTH FOR AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING

There is an increasing demand for social housing from all age and demographic groups and greater pressure placed on local and regional authorities in meeting the needs of varied population groups. Therefore, in order to meet the needs of an ageing population, there is an urgent need to develop services that are closely aligned with the needs of this sector of the population and technically and economically affordable. As poverty among older people throughout Europe is increasing, the new European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, which coordinates research in the field, should include a specific strand devoted to developing affordable solutions to enable older people to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. Improving conditions for access to the existing housing stock is a reasonable, viable way to reduce the need for assistance, helping people to remain in their places of residence and making it easier for them to regain a social life by boosting their personal independence.

People need to be placed at the centre of pilot programmes developing the ‘smart cities’ of tomorrow, by including a social inclusion element and encouraging users to participate in the projects. This acknowledges their key role in transforming cities, which must guarantee social cohesion in order to be sustainable.

More extensive programmes should be developed to encourage users to feel more ‘ownership’ of the technologies for constructing passive buildings. European funding should support not only technological research but also such programmes in order to raise the profile of these technologies and to take on board the views of users/ consumers.

Positive developments will be guaranteed by the advances in information technology and telecare which support elderly and disabled residents in their homes.

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Walter Blachfellner was born in 1952 in Werfen, Austria. From 1970 to 2011, he worked at the Austrian postal and telegraphic services. He started his political career in the union of postal workers in 1982 and became the country’s top postal trade unionist in 1989. In 1996, he took over the presidency of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) Salzburg and was thus responsible for 80 000 union members and more than 200 000 workers in the country. Since April 2001, he has been a member of the government of Salzburg. He is currently responsible for housing construction, land use planning, environmental protection and commercial matters. Walter Blachfellner Minister of the regional government of Salzburg, in charge of housing construction (Austria)

Affordable and decent accommodation is a fundamental right of every EU citizen. It is therefore the task of EU politicians to assume this responsibility and to create the framework conditions for achieving this goal. Every EU citizen should have access to appropriate living and working conditions in order to enable him/her to participate fully in society and to ensure the fundamental rights of the individual.

SMART GROWTH FOR AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING

On assuming responsibility for the residential building department of the Austrian province of Salzburg in 2004, my priority was to make decent and affordable housing in a healthy environment available to everyone. In 2006, therefore, the entire financing system was overhauled with the establishment of the provincial housing construction fund (Landeswohnbaufonds). Instead of banks, the province now grants loans at a favourable rate of interest both to those buying private homes and to not-for-profit residential property developers in the rental sector, which in due course all flow back into the fund. Since the fundâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s introduction in 2006, around EUR 270 million a year has been invested in new-build housing and renovation. By way of comparison, in 2004 EUR 193 million was invested in subsidised housing construction. Had I not introduced the provincial housing construction fund in 2006, there would be EUR 110 million less available annually, which equates to 800 fewer homes being built every year and to 2 600 jobs in the construction sector. The Salzburg provincial housing construction fund is a financing model for residential construction and is unique of its kind in Austria. The fund grants substantial subsidised loans for new-build housing and renovation at low and stable interest rates. No bank is able to offer such low rates of interest as the fund. Around EUR 270 million is invested in housing construction every year. This corresponds to 2 100 subsidised new units. In addition, the fund safeguards or creates around 9 000 jobs a year in the local construction industry, making it the province of Salzburgâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest employer. Legal basis Since 1 January 2006, the fund has been responsible for all housing construction subsidies in the province. It has its own legal personality. The province of Salzburg guarantees all liabilities. The fund is managed by the provincial department for housing construction subsidies.

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Concept of the provincial housing construction fund The province of Salzburg raises money for the fund on capital markets on conditions which no bank is able to match. The fund uses the resources in the form of interest-bearing loans to applicants. Applicants repay their subsidised loans over a fixed term. The fund also encourages early repayment of loans taken out before 2006. Both sides benefit from this repayment of older loans; if beneficiaries repay their loans early, they can receive reductions of up to 50 %. Resources thus return to the fund more quickly and are worth more to the fund than if they had been repaid at the end of the contractual period. In 2010, repayments amounted to EUR 36 million, equating to 280 additional housing units. Around 25 to 30 years hence, the fund intends to be able to maintain its activities without recourse to external resources. In many areas we are living at the expense of future generations. But Salzburg’s provincial housing construction fund is a rare example of being able to tell them: ‘Even in 20 or 30 years, there will still be money for you!’

SMART GROWTH FOR AFFORDABLE AND UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE HOUSING

‘The European institutions are still too quiet about their involvement in relation to social housing. It’s time for Europe to make its ambitions clear, to make citizens understand what it is doing to support access for all to affordable housing, taking into account both rents and service charges. For my part, I see two windows of opportunity to give EU action meaning. The first of these lies in the importance given in the cohesion policy for 2014-2020 to renovation of housing to make it heat-efficient, access to housing for disadvantaged groups, development of social facilities in local areas and promotion of urban renewal of run-down neighbourhoods. The second is the intention of the Commission and the European Council, in the context of strengthening the governance of the euro area, to set up a monitoring, alert and prevention system against property bubbles. Such bubbles not only disturb the stability of the euro area, but also clash with the EU’s social and territorial cohesion objectives.

Thierry Repentin President of the Union Sociale pour l’Habitat, Senator (PS) for the region of Savoy (France)

We can and must grasp these opportunities. We must enforce the fundamental right to decent housing without ruinous expense.’

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Universally accessible energy-efficient housing for sustainable environment

UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE ENERGYď&#x161;şEFFICIENT HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT

The residential sector causes 40 % of greenhouse gas emissions and is therefore a high priority in the fight against climate change. To meet these objectives, it is vital to improve the conditions of the housing stock built over 30 years ago, which in some European regions accounts for 70 % of the existing total. The energy-related renovation of four dwellings creates the equivalent of one job, and therefore the sector has a significant positive structural effect on employment, economic growth and the environment at local level.

Energy-related housing renovation in the context of social cohesion should remain eligible for European Union structural funds, while giving greater flexibility to each region in terms of the amount of funding allocated to this activity. The structural funds must make effective use of the partnership principle and the Member States must be encouraged to cooperate with local and regional authorities to set priorities and determine how the funding should be used.

The European Parliament and the Council should ensure that requirements to reduce energy consumption and fuel poverty have a positive impact on vulnerable households and that measures to promote renovation are specifically focused on reducing energy poverty by setting up specific national or regional funds.

Technical assistance facilities such as ELENA (support for drafting local energy efficiency plans) and specialised funds such as Jessica (support for integrated urban development, making use of the structural funds) are two key tools in implementing the Covenant of Mayors (which the CoR helped to establish) and need to be renewed and boosted during the next programming period.

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“An important point for Swedish housing policy is that everyone should have the opportunity to rent an apartment of good quality at reasonable costs. Therefore we do not have special housing for the poor in Malmö. No one should be able to determine from the address whether you are poor, rich or for example a drug addict. For that reason, apartments for people living on social benefits are to be found all over the city, in each neighbourhood.”

Ilmar Reepalu member of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions and Mayor of Malmö (Sweden)

UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE ENERGYEFFICIENT HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT

Carina Nilsson was born in Malmö in 1959. After qualifying as an occupational therapist and care teacher, she worked from 1980 to 1992 as an occupational therapist for the municipality and the county. From 1993 to 2008 she was a public health official at Malmö University Hospital (UMAS). From 1995 to 1997 she was member of the District Council, and since 1998 she has been member of the Municipal Council. Since 2006, she has been member of the City Executive Board. In 2008 she obtained her master’s degree in public health. In the same year, she became Deputy Mayor, first responsible for culture and recreation, then for welfare and care. Since 2010 she has chaired the Social Resource Committee. Carina Nilsson Deputy Mayor of Malmö (Sweden)

In Malmö, we are working hard on sustainable urban development. This encompasses three dimensions: environmental, economic and social. Environmental sustainability Malmö is a world leader in sustainable construction. The district of Västra Hamnen is a centre of housing, industry and education that grew out of the Bo01 housing exhibition. It is a new district bringing together modern architecture and environmental sustainability. The area is powered wholly by locally produced energy from sustainable sources — solar, wind and hydro power and energy generated from the district’s waste. Reduce, reuse and recycle as far as possible: these have been guiding principles of the Bo01 project. Since the housing exhibition, Västra Hamnen has been a hive of building activity. A number of buildings have won prestigious architectural prizes, including our new landmark and Sweden’s tallest residential building, the ‘Turning Torso’.

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Social sustainability Malmö faces a major challenge in reducing the health gap between people with decent living conditions and people without: the focus is social sustainability. Malmö shares this challenge with the rest of world. In Malmö alone, a city of 300 000 inhabitants, life expectancy varies by up to 8 years from district to district. It is important, therefore, to prevent and reduce residential segregation through urban planning and social policy. Economic sustainability For that reason, it is vital that a new district such as Västra Hamnen should be built for — and be open to — all the people of Malmö. Since the mid-20th century, Swedish housing policy has sought to give everyone the opportunity to rent quality housing at a reasonable cost. As a result, Swedish public housing companies, unlike those in many other countries, have a wider remit than merely providing social housing for the poor. Complexes with exclusively social housing do not exist in Sweden. Moreover, Malmö’s municipal housing agency (MKB), with 22 000 properties on its books, is the city’s biggest landlord. This obviously means that the MKB has a particular responsibility for the housing market in Malmö and for making an active contribution to development of the city. Our housing policy is based a key premise: namely we do not want housing agencies or complexes specifically for the poor. No one should be able to tell from an address if a person is poor, rich, a drug addict, etc. Instead tenancy rights should be accessible to everyone under the same conditions.

UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE ENERGYEFFICIENT HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT

Social housing in Västra Hamnen It is very important to us that our new residential area should be a mix of rented and privately owned housing. However, other social services are also important. Västra Hamnen today offers sheltered accommodation for older people and housing for people with disabilities. There are also a number of social apartments spread across the various buildings, where social services take responsibility for the lease until the tenants themselves are in a position to do so. From autumn 2012, we will be offering transitional accommodation for homeless single people and couples who have been drug-free for at least 6 months. We also have accommodation for unaccompanied refugee children. More about other housing policies We must of course work across a range of fields to combat residential segregation, give all Malmö residents access to decent housing and reduce homelessness. In Malmö, we have recently re-established a municipal housing agency where private property owners can also register their vacant apartments for rent. The housing service has very transparent rules: flats are let to applicants who meet the landlord’s requirements and have expressed an interest in the property strictly in order of how long they have been on the waiting list. Malmö has also reached agreement with property owners that welfare benefits should count as income for the purposes of flat letting. This greatly helps families on long-term welfare support. In Sweden, people can also apply for housing benefit, the level of which is contingent on factors such as income, the cost and size of the accommodation in question and the number of children in the household.

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We have also recently launched a project based on the housing-first approach — an initiative with which I think many of you will be familiar. This project is based on the principle that it is impossible for people to turn their lives around and live drug-free until they have a stable base — their own place to live. Much of the work with homeless substance abusers has in the past been built on the assumption that people have to resolve their addiction issues before they can be given accommodation. We are now trying to change that perspective. We are starting small but will gradually expand the project if it proves effective. Further reading Energy efficiency in social housing: the CASH project The CASH project is being carried out within the framework of Urbact, the European exchange and learning programme promoting sustainable urban development. Urbact is co-financed by the ERDF and the Member States. Energy efficiency in social housing is a multifaceted subject, involving financial and technical aspects, but also legal, cultural and organisational ones. The ambition of the CASH project is to propose new solutions and promote new policies for the sustainable renovation of social and affordable housing units in the European Union. The overall aim is to reduce the energy consumption of buildings and in buildings through improved energy efficiency and responsible users’ behaviour. Most available social housing units are ageing and have low environmental standards. At the same time, there is still a lack of experience and expertise in the field of sustainable renovation of buildings. This is the gap that the CASH project seeks to fill.

UNIVERSALLY ACCESSIBLE ENERGYEFFICIENT HOUSING FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT

CASH is a network of 11 partners (10 cities and one region): Utrecht (Netherlands), Tatabánya (Hungary), Sonderborg (Denmark), Les Mureaux and Echirolles (France), the region of Rhône-Alpes (France), Brindisi (Italy), Bridgend (UK), Frankfurt (Germany), Yambol (Bulgaria) and Ptolemaida (Greece). The project is led by Echirolles. Launched in November 2009, CASH will run through January 2013. Outputs so far include the first CASH mini-guide on technological development and the Baseline study, an extensive study of the issues addressed by CASH, in Europe and in all the partner cities. To find out more about the project, visit the CASH website (http://bit.ly/CASH-project).

PART II Provision of social housing across the EU: some examples from members of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions

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AUSTRIA Overview of social housing policies in Austria In Austria, there is no official definition of social housing, but there are different forms of housing provision ‘beyond’ the market. Municipal housing is rental housing provided by municipalities, while limited profit housing is rental and owner-occupied housing provided on a non-profit basis by investors, which are regulated by the Non-profit Housing Act and have access to public subsidies. The federal provinces provide funding through the housing promotion schemes, which define the type of housing and providers that can access funding as well as rent limits and income limits for residents. The social housing stock currently represents about 23 % of the total housing stock in the country, 60 % of which is owned by municipalities and public companies. However, the contribution of municipalities to new construction of social housing was reduced to only 12 % over the period 2001–09. The main sector is currently the limited profit sector, which includes cooperatives and companies. A smaller part of subsidised housing is provided by for-profit providers.

THE EU

Austria has a very structured system for financing the provision of social housing. It combines long-term public loans on favourable conditions and grants defined at the level of federal provinces with commercial loans raised via bonds and developerâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;tenant equity. Promotion of social housing is also supported by municipal land policy. Rents are calculated on the basis of costs combined with rent limitation, defined by the subsidy schemes. All providers must apply income limits defined by the different promotion schemes of the federal provinces. Limited profit providers also have to apply additional social criteria determining priority in the allocation of dwellings. Furthermore, federal provinces as well as public owners of housing companies can claim a certain number of dwellings in order to allocate them themselves. Public housing promotion underwent substantial reform in 2009, when the central state withdrew from financing and the former budget dedicated to housing promotion was integrated into the overall budget of the federal provinces. Following the economic and financial crisis, the number of housing units receiving public grants decreased by 25 % in 2010. Also, the above-mentioned system of covered bonds enjoying a preferential tax treatment has been negatively affected by the crisis. Due to the high housing demand, the supply of sufficient and affordable housing in the forthcoming years will constitute an important challenge.

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An example of a social housing project from a member of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions Housing policy as a tool in the fight against poverty and social exclusion Housing policy is a key instrument in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. It can act in a number of different ways: — providing access to affordable housing for all sections of the population; — keeping people out of the ‘debt trap’; Elisabeth Vitouch Member of the Vienna City Council (Austria)

— preventing social segregation in the form of built ‘social ghettos’; — integrating immigrants; — integrating vulnerable groups; — preventing fuel poverty; — establishing sustainable, long-term structures and financing systems. The EU can contribute both positively and negatively: — positively, through co-financing (structural funds), but also through the transfer of know-how and capacity building; — negatively, through competition law (for example, in the proceedings against the Netherlands and Sweden), which may also affect Austrian law on public support.

THE EU

Social sustainability in the Vienna housing sector Since 2009, all subsidised housing projects conducted under developer competitions (some 7 000 units per year, representing about 90 % of total residential newbuild) must also be checked for their social sustainability. Accordingly, subsidised housing must be suitable for different uses, user groups and housing types, with multipurpose floor plans, site development facilities and common and outside areas. Attention must also be paid to everyday suitability and appropriate planning to reduce running and management costs. Projects must contribute to the social mix, boost active participation, facilitate building management, help build a sense of local identity and pride and also include elements of social infrastructure in order to encourage integration. The following sets of criteria need to be taken into account: — day-to-day practicality — cost reduction through planning — living in community — living for changing needs. It is worth noting that in 2010, the Vienna City Council led a working group on housing with Eurocities, which discussed general principles for social housing and concrete European policy demands. For another contribution from Austria, please read the piece by Walter Blachfellner, page 46.

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BELGIUM Overview of social housing policies in Belgium Since 1980, social housing has been a regional competence in Belgium. Each of the three regions (Brussels-Capital region, Wallonia and Flanders) has adopted its own housing code, which establishes the right to housing and defines the concept and scope of social housing provision. Social housing accounts on average for about 7 % of the total national housing stock, with differences between the regions (around 6 % in Flanders and Wallonia, 8 % in Brussels). Social housing provision is mostly financed by funding from the regional budgets and, unlike in most other European countries, the level of rent charged depends on the income of the tenant household. It is worth noting that social housing in Belgium is available both for rent and for sale in Wallonia and Flanders, while in the Brussels-Capital region it is available only for rent. A number of different actors are involved in social housing provision in Belgium. Each region has its own public housing company (Société du Logement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale, Vlaamse Maatschappij voor Sociaal Wonen and Société Wallonne du Logement in Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia respectively) which is responsible for the supervision and financing of social housing and acts as an intermediary between the regional government and local housing organisations. The latter also work in close cooperation with municipalities and other local public bodies. Also involved in social housing provision is the Walloon Housing Fund (Fond du Logement de la Wallonie, FLW), whose role is mainly to provide social loans for access to home ownership for vulnerable households, to buy/renovate privately owned dwellings to be rented as social housing and to coordinate a number of non-profit associations working on housing-related services. Furthermore, ‘social rental agencies’ act as an intermediary between private landlords and social housing applicants by renting dwellings on the private market and making them available to people in urgent need of accommodation.

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In the Brussels-Capital region, a city region where the housing market is under great pressure, the provision of decent housing at an affordable price is strongly needed. To face this challenge, the financial means of the social housing sector have been considerably increased in recent years, with a significant increase in the level of construction, renovation and maintenance activities. The mobilisation of private resources and the successful conclusion of publicâ&#x20AC;&#x201C; private partnerships in urban regeneration projects and new construction have contributed to addressing the housing shortage. Furthermore, social action plans have been introduced, which integrate the development of social cohesion projects and the creation of a social support service for social housing tenants.

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An example of a social housing project from a member of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions Presentation of the RBDH The Rassemblement Bruxellois pour le Droit à l’Habitat (RBDH) is a bilingual organisation of about 50 associations defending the right to housing in Brussels and working to ensure access to decent housing at affordable prices. We have chosen to present two projects launched by RBDH member associations which are remarkable for their innovative features and could serve as examples of good practice. Alain Hutchinson Member of the Brussels Regional Parliament (Belgium)

Two projects headed by associations working towards insertion through housing. 1. The ‘Hope’ project A brief description For 5 years, 14 low-income families have been working hard on a project involving the purchase of a building in the Brussels commune of Molenbeek.

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The project has several innovative features: — low-income households have been able to access the building; — the inhabitants have invested considerable time and energy in the project; — various public and private bodies and associations have cooperated to good effect; — the new housing meets energy-efficiency standards. The project It began in 2003, when the commune of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, with the help of the Brussels-Capital region, decided to purchase a polluted plot of land for the purpose of subsidised housing. Shortly thereafter, the Bonnevie maison de quartier (community centre) and the Housing Fund (1) proposed a project which was approved. The Housing Fund then purchased the site for a quarter of the asking price. It assumed the role of works supervisor and directed, funded and supervised the project. At the same time, a group of purchasers came together and decided to found an association known as ‘L’Espoir’, or ‘Hope’. The group was extremely active throughout the project. It also set up a collective savings account, paying in EUR 50 each month. This money was used to cover various expenses (moving, painting, etc.). With the assistance of the Bonnevie maison de quartier and the CIRE (coordination and initiatives for refugees and aliens), the group, encompassing 14 households, successfully applied for the necessary grants. The building expenses were carefully scrutinised, with the architect and builder involved from the very start of the project. Another innovative feature is that the inhabitants chose apartments which met energy-efficiency standards.

(1)

This body, monitored and subsidised by the Brussels-Capital region, offers mortgages at advantageous rates and conditions, rent assistance, regional loans for rent guarantees, etc.

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2. The housing barometer and monitoring housing policy Principles In early 2010, RBDH brought out its new housing barometer. This mechanism makes it possible to measure government action in the area of housing, set against the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own objectives. The barometer has a varied target audience: associations that help their members understand the housing crisis, politicians who can consult a pragmatic and regular account, media who convey information, etc. Method We have listed all the housing-related measures in the 2009â&#x20AC;&#x201C;14 government agreement, amounting to 73 in total. We regularly assess the progress made in all these measures and conduct six-monthly evaluations. This enables us to determine the gaps between political pledges and achievements on the ground, and to identify the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s real priorities. Public involvement in political issues All the associations which are members of RBDH encourage their members to play an active role in order to promote understanding of routine problems and foster autonomy. Various groups, made up of inhabitants and assisted by social workers, use the barometer to come to grips with political and legal advances in housing, as well as the remaining obstacles.

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In general, the groups and committees of inhabitants are extremely active. They hold regular meetings, take part in programmes to raise public awareness and cooperate in various events and activities. For example, they regularly attend meetings of the Brussels parliamentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s housing commissions, and in early 2010 invited MPs to a friendly breakfast. Conclusions and demands by the voluntary sector With a working group which it heads, RBDH records the problems encountered by authorised and subsidised associations in their efforts to promote insertion through housing. Bureaucracy causes problems for the associations at grassroots level. Therefore, RBDH calls for files and grant requests to be processed more quickly and uniformly; it also calls for a clearer legal framework.

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CZECH REPUBLIC Overview of social housing policies in the Czech Republic A high level of decentralisation, together with the lack of a legal framework, makes it difficult to define the scope of social housing provision in the Czech Republic. In fact, there are different views on whether it should include the entire stock of municipally owned rental housing or only part of the stock aimed at people on lower incomes. While in most eastern European countries the political transition to democracy was accompanied by rapid privatisation of the public housing stock, in the Czech Republic right-to-buy legislation was not passed and the sector of municipal flats still accounts for about 17 % of the residential market. However, the state decided to keep the original pre-1990 regulation on rents and tenure protection, and to allow only small and gradual rent increases. Rent regulation has been applied both to tenants in municipal housing and to tenants in the private rental sector, but not to new leases.

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Since 2003, a system of new targeted social housing constructions for low incomes and disadvantaged people has been developed. However, it represents only about 0.6 % of the national housing stock. There are also a small number of units which serve as social service related housing provision (housing with social care, shelters, asylum housing). Also, in 2009, two new programmes were launched aimed at increasing the availability of social housing by opening funding to private actors willing to provide social rental flats to people with lower income. However, their implementation is lagging behind and municipalities are still the only providers of social rental housing. Most of the financing needed for social housing constructions comes from the municipal budget. The State Fund for Housing Development, which is supposed to provide co-financing through investment grants within specific programmes, is currently not operational due to a lack of financial resources. The allocation policy for social housing includes income ceilings (depending on the municipality) and priority target groups according to specific programmes, including people with low incomes, seniors and persons threatened by social exclusion. In 2006, a new act on housing rent, aimed at closing the gap between regulated and market rents, was adopted. It allows owners of dwellings with regulated rents to unilaterally increase the rent up to four times. As a consequence, in about 400 000 cases an agreement on future rents had to be found between tenants and landlords.

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An example of a social housing project from a member of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions Regional forms of social exclusion: how can they be addressed? â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Internal peripheriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; can be found within the confines of every country. The Czech Republic has a number of areas characterised by the permanently low standard of living of their isolated inhabitants, who have to contend with problems that include unemployment, inadequate access to services, poor or inexistent infrastructure, an impoverished cultural life and insufficient social contacts. Stanislav Eichler Governor of the Liberec Region (Czech Republic)

In line with the Lisbon strategy, all EU Member States have agreed to coordinate their policies for combating poverty and social exclusion using the open method of coordination. In the Czech Republic, each ministry has its own action plan relevant to its particular area of competence. These plans are then transposed in the regions as part of a gradual process. The Liberec region is no exception to this process and does its utmost to ensure their implementation by all stakeholders in the region (especially local authorities and the not-for-profit sector).

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If the current problems of social integration are not resolved, there is a risk of: i

the social exclusion of handicapped and disadvantaged individuals or entire social groups from the social, political and economic activity of civil society;

unsystematic access to child protection services and a deterioration in the quality of the services afforded to children at risk and their families;

rising unemployment, low standards of housing and a deeper and increasing level of poverty;

conflicts based on nationality and ethnicity.

Factors which entrench social exclusion: i

restricted access to the labour market

restricted access to quality housing

restricted access to education.

In the Liberec region our aim is to ensure the following in the area of social integration: 1. access to the resources, rights and services needed to take part in society, to prevent and tackle social exclusion and to combat all forms of discrimination leading to social exclusion (some 13 500 Roma live in the region and there are 17 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;excludedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; areas); 2. active social integration for all by promoting labour market participation and poverty and social exclusion (the current level of unemployment in the Liberec region is 10 %); 3. that the various social integration policies are effectively coordinated so that they involve all tiers of government and stakeholders concerned, including people living in poverty;

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4. action to guarantee that social integration policies are effective and reflected in all relevant public policies (e.g., in community action plans), including economic and budgetary policy, education policy and vocational training policy (structural fund programmes, in particular the ESF). Social problems are addressed in the Liberec region through the use of tenders for specific projects. We regularly publish tenders and local NGOs and public authorities can take part. This method has proven to be effective and has provided the best results. We can plan for and respond to requests from the grassroots level based on the community action plans. It is often the case that we need to look beyond our own region. We can offer our experience and our human resources, yet we lack the necessary financial resources and, at times, the support of local authorities. This concerns issues such as drugs, homelessness and people suffering from social exclusion. Principal systemic measures proposed Cross-cutting i

Generally boost communications and cooperation among the various stakeholders involved in tackling social exclusion.

Ensure access to front-line social services for all persons experiencing or at risk of social exclusion.

Housing

Clarify the role of local authorities with regard to housing policy.

Clarify the concept of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;social housingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and start building it.

Ensure the consistent application of a ban on discrimination in the area of housing.

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Employment i

Draw up targeted employment programmes (particularly for women and unemployed young people with only primary school education).

Introduce changes enabling those with primary school (and special primary school graduates) education to register at employment offices.

Adjust the difference between the national minimum wage and the level of state benefits and conduct prior assessments of the effects of various types of adjustment.

Education i

Redraw the boundaries of primary school catchment areas.

Improve the system for enrolment at special primary schools and preparatory classes at special primary schools.

Lower the minimum number of pupils needed to set up preparatory (reception) classes in small districts.

Modify the system used to finance schools to take account of the higher costs of educating socially disadvantaged pupils.

Identify Roma pupils to help monitor the progress of various integration programmes.

Set up a platform for exchanging experiences among primary and secondary schools attended by pupils from socially excluded Roma settlements.

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FRANCE Overview of social housing policies in France Social housing in France is represented by the so called ‘HLM’ sector (where HLM stands for habitation à loyer modéré — housing at moderated rents). The social housing sector in France is quite developed and accounts for over 4 million dwellings, that is, about 17 % of the stock. It covers the construction, development, allocation and management of rented social housing as well as of dwellings for social home ownership. French social housing is built and managed by HLM organisations, which are specific actors entrusted by the state to fulfil a mission of general interest, as well as to a lesser extent by semi-public enterprises (sociétés d’économie mixte) and some non-profit associations. HLM organisations include both publicly and privately owned companies acting on a non-profit basis and under the control of the Ministry of Housing and Finance. They are represented at the national level by the umbrella organisation Union Sociale pour l’Habitat. Social housing is mainly financed through a system of indirect aid, whose main component is the so-called ‘livret A’ — a savings account with regulated interest rate and not subject to tax — which has historically guaranteed resources to the sector, allowing for an average production of 100 000 new dwellings and renovation of 70 000 dwellings per year. Under the so-called ‘Grenelle de l’Environnement’, HLM organisations are committed to renovating 800 000 social housing units by 2020, in order to improve their energy efficiency. This programme is supported by the EU through the European Regional Development Fund. The social housing sector is governed by legislative and regulatory provisions, separate from common law and regulated by the Construction and Housing Code (Code de la Construction et de l’Habitation). Furthermore, the Law on the Right to Housing (commonly referred to as DALO), introduced in 2007, establishes priority access to social housing for people falling under one of the following six categories: homeless; those at risk of eviction who are unable to find other accommodation; people with temporary accommodation; those living in unhealthy or unfit accommodation; households with children in overcrowded or unfit dwellings; and disabled people. The law allows for people to seek for legal redress vis-à-vis the local authority in case their request for an accommodation is not answered.

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Examples of social housing projects from members of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions Policies of the Eure département (D27) Background to Eure’s housing policies Housing policy is a solid element of Eure’s spatial planning, since it means there can be consistency between programme planning and grassroots action. Eure’s policies are divided into four main strands. 1. Action to counter exclusion by using the Fonds de Solidarité Habitat (social housing fund): supporting access by individuals and families to decent housing corresponding to their needs. The General Council facilitates the use of this type of housing by encouraging preservation of the power and water supply and phone connection.

Jean-Louis Destans President of the General Council of Eure (France)

2. Support for restructuring social housing estates: support for the activities of the ANRU (French national urban renewal agency) and for other (non-ANRU) ad hoc urban renewal projects. 3. Support for increasing the supply of social rental housing: help for social housing tenants and councils to develop and upgrade social rental housing to meet environmental criteria in order to boost the effectiveness of ‘sustainable’ development projects in Eure.

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4. Improved response to the needs of the most vulnerable in society: support to encourage the development of social housing for people in serious difficulties, young workers’ hostels and home improvement support for low-income owner-occupiers, indirect support for low-wage earners by funding grouped housing improvement operations (i.e. house improvement programmes (OPAH) and the general interest programmes (PIG) of Anah, the French national agency for improving private housing). As can be seen, in addition to its own responsibilities and state-initiated tasks, Eure has — for several years — been pursuing a voluntary housing policy to provide solidarity-based, balanced housing arrangements for all. In 2010, Eure invested over EUR 10 million in developing a solidarity-based housing policy and maintaining economic growth in the département. Furthermore, in order to consolidate its commitment, the département has taken on the delegated responsibility of supporting social housing developers for a 6-year period (2007–12) throughout Eure, except in the Evreux and Seine-Eure conurbations, which have taken on this delegated responsibility for themselves. As a result, Eure is now responsible for allocating state support for the construction, acquisition, upgrading and demolition of social rental housing, the renovation of private housing, rental-purchase arrangements and accommodation centres. By taking on these responsibilities, the département has strengthened its regional development role in Eure. Moreover, in order to make better use of these delegated powers, Eure was the first département in France to adopt its own housing plan (PDH27), at its December 2007 session. Finally, Eure is also responsible for the housing action plan for disadvantaged people (PDALPD), which is currently being updated.

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What social housing policies should we adopt against social exclusion? How do we fight energy poverty in housing? The purpose of the General Council’s close involvement in housing is to respond better to the concerns of the local population, as well as to ensure reasoned and fair development throughout the département. To this end, several objectives are being pursued, namely to: 1. contribute to the development of an adequate supply of social housing to meet accessible housing needs for low- to medium-wage earners; 2. ensure a balanced distribution of housing development across the region, especially in small towns and rural areas; 3. ensure optimum architectural and environmental standards; 4. facilitate the upgrading of housing and urban renewal in the most vulnerable neighbourhoods, in order to completely transform the local population’s living conditions. These objectives underpin measures to prevent social exclusion and energy poverty. 1. Eure has decoupled the number of PLAIs (lowest-cost social housing lets) funded under these support programmes and those of the state since 1997 and since implementation of the ‘enforceable right to housing’ policy. Around one hundred homes of this type are developed each year. 2. Eure is setting up baux glissants (sub-tenancy and transferable lease arrangements, where an association takes out a lease and covers the rent until the occupant can afford to take over).

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3. Since 2008, and as part of its climate plan, Eure has been using ‘energy bonuses’ to encourage social housing tenants to go beyond current thermal insulation requirements when developing and upgrading their homes. As of 2011, Eure has made the provision of support contingent on housing development meeting the requirements of the BBC label (low-energy buildings) and social housing upgrading work meeting the requirements of the ‘C’ energy performance label. 4. In addition to providing support for social housing, Eure spends EUR 1.2 million on assistance to 700 low-income owner-occupiers as part of support measures for improving private housing. Some 77 % of this assistance goes towards improving energy savings. Furthermore, to date, 96 ‘energy bonuses’ ranging from EUR 1 000 to EUR 1 250 have been awarded for achieving a minimum of 20 % energy performance improvements, based on before and after refurbishment comparisons. Since adoption of Eure’s climate plan in 2008, over 1 400 households have benefited from such support, allowing domestic greenhouse gas emissions for this housing to be cut back by 3 000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year, which is equivalent to the amount of CO2 emissions produced by 900 homes (or 1 200 vehicles) in a year. Note that support from the département and the state will soon be added to that provided by the region. 5. As part of its training measures, Eure has concluded an agreement with ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency) to provide its social welfare staff with training for tackling energy poverty.

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Housing policies of the Puy-de-Dôme General Council As in the majority of developed economies, the French population is ageing, with life expectancy currently standing at an average of 84.5 years for women and 77.8 for men. At the same time, the birth rate has continued to rise and the country’s fertility rate is one of Europe’s highest at 1.9 children per woman. Meanwhile, family change is influencing people’s housing choices; people who are single or delaying marriage and people living longer now represent an increasing share of the population; couples are forming later and separating more often and the number of single parent and recombined families is increasing, all creating new social needs, including a considerable rise in the demand for housing, which, since the introduction of the decentralisation laws, must now be met by local and regional authorities.

Mireille Lacombe Member of the General Council of Puy-de-Dôme (France)

Moreover, over the past 50 years, rising inequality within French society has become the key social issue, with evident poverty and job insecurity and inequalities emerging not only between generations but also between women and men and between the so-called ‘indigenous’ French population and people of immigrant origin. The Puy-de-Dôme General Council has not escaped the housing crisis resulting from price increases in the private housing sector and the growing need for social housing. In a period of administrative decentralisation, the challenge is to respond to the state’s evident desire to devolve responsibilities to local and regional authorities, whilst French housing policy falls squarely within the remit of the national government.

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For this reason, local players involved in housing matters in Puy-de-Dôme have joined forces with others in the Auvergne, Champagne-Ardenne, Ile de France, Midi-Pyrénnées, and Rhône-Alpes regions and set up a group of specialists to explore — each from their own perspective — common factors and solutions for redefining public and private sector approaches to social housing. They have concluded that there is a need to go back to the drawing board and completely overhaul the existing provisions in order to build a more ambitious and realistic policy, which they intend to present not only to the French government and parliament but also to the local and regional authorities concerned. It will be structured around three interdependent principles: — regulating markets to ensure that new and existing housing is accessible to all social strata; — stabilising public aid at a high enough level for it to be effective and linking it with social and environmental objectives; — redefining the responsibilities of the state and local authorities to establish good country-wide solidarity and ensure that implementation is closely matched to local needs. These experts intend to use their positions as locally elected representatives and local operators to make policymaking more democratic by promoting consultation between the public and private sectors, other stakeholders and occupants of social housing, so as to open the way to a social housing policy that takes full account of the regional and local aspects of the question. What kind of housing policy can help combat social exclusion? Given that social mixing is an antidote to social exclusion, it must be a component and goal of any housing policy. 1. Mixed social environment: ensuring that areas contain a combination of collective, intermediary and individual housing. 2. Mixed forms of occupation: owner-occupancy, renting with a right to buy and transferable leases (‘bail glissant’), where a housing authority leases an apartment to a charitable organisation, which in turn subleases to low income families. 3. Mix of operators: private sector, public sector, local authorities.

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4. Mix of generations: first-time buyers, elderly people. 5. Mix of personal circumstances: large families, single-parent families, single people, students. There is a need to put political will behind efforts to implement the DALO act on the right to housing and prevent the long waits for housing that keep families on the streets, in B & Bs or in caravans. We need to make ‘second-chance housing’ a reality; for example, when people are in financial difficulties as a result of life’s ups and downs or personal or family problems, the possibility of taking out a transferable lease via the local authority allows tenants to get back onto the employment ladder or into the community before becoming fully independent and solvent again. Following the same principle, house buyers who get into difficulties could be given the option of having a local housing authority (HLM) buy their property, thus enabling them to stay in the property whilst changing status (from house owner in difficulty to tenant, with the possibility of buying the property later on if their fortunes improve). The impetus behind this policy would be to make operators aware of the need to take account of people’s dignity. It will also be necessary to: — ensure country-wide application of legislation aimed at speeding up the creation of sites or appropriate housing for gypsies and travellers, in consultation with these groups; — build more affordable housing, since current levels are not keeping pace with new households’ needs and we are seeing the reappearance of the ‘shanty towns’ denounced by Abbé Pierre back in 1956; — rationalise the approaches of the various social services concerned with housing and ensure that they are aligned on one another, for example welfare officers, not only in the various housing bodies and local authorities but also in family allowances offices, must use consistent allocation criteria; — get families to take responsibility for co-maintenance of their housing to cut costs and develop their sense of community, by providing social support, especially to the most vulnerable, from the time they take up residence, through the settling in period and management of heating and electricity charges and household waste;

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— gear support and services to people’s primary needs by providing individual help for activities such as getting out of the house, going shopping, getting dressed and knowing how to use public transport; — inspect and penalise slum landlords who exploit the misery of the homeless and receive subsidies, often for housing people in unfit accommodation; — build housing that is close to services, social amenities and transport. What kind of intergenerational housing projects and services can be geared to jobs? Several projects that highlight the importance of housing for vulnerable people and/or people with disabilities are currently underway. They are supported by local authorities and involve exchanges between professionals, who are drawing on the example of initiatives conducted in Dunkirk (Nord - Pas-de-Calais), Althen des Paluds (in the Vaucluse) and Clermont-Ferrand (capital of the Puy-de-Dôme département). The projects have assessed the needs of people who are ill or unable to work unless appropriate work stations are provided in special facilities, which could come under housing policy. The ‘code of good conduct’ for people with disabilities, which applies to, but is not binding on, local authorities, needs to be implemented. Initiatives might include setting up telework centres by creating housing targeted at different categories of people with disabilities who are able to live independently and wish to work together to combat their illness or disability or avoid unemployment. One such example, the future telework centre in Althen des Paluds, a project for an IT and call centre in France, has been recognised by Unesco, which cited it at the May 2010 conference held at the Geneva-based UN agency, the International Telecommunications Union. If this centre is opened, it could employ female jobseekers and young people eligible for training support.

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GERMANY Overview of social housing policies in Germany In Germany the term ‘social housing’ is rarely used and legal texts generally refer to ‘publicly subsidised housing’ or ‘housing promotion’, which represents about 5 % of the national housing stock. Public intervention in housing policy in Germany is not linked to specific providers, but entails public subsidy of any kind of housing providers in exchange for the use of a dwelling for social purposes on a temporary basis. It should be noted that since 2006, social housing has been entirely a competence of the Länder, which have implemented different programmes and funding schemes. Local authorities are in charge of ensuring affordable accommodation for those unable to secure adequate housing themselves, while the federal state remains responsible for housing allowances to individual households and rent regulation. The institutional non-profit sector was dissolved in 1989, and at the same time extensive assets owned by municipalities were transferred to private market-oriented owners. Providers of publicly subsidised housing currently include municipal housing companies and cooperatives as well as private landlords, commercial developers and investors with a variety of shareholders. From a legal point of view, all housing companies are considered market actors, although municipal housing companies act according to local policies and housing needs.

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It is difficult to give a comprehensive picture of the financial mechanisms for social housing provision as there are no centralised records and funding programmes have evolved over time. In general, public subsidies (grants or tax relief ) cover the gap between the rent actually paid and the average property rental price. Public subsidies decrease progressively and at the same time the rent increases. At the end of the amortisation period (20â&#x20AC;&#x201C;40 years for dwellings newly built with public subsidies and 12â&#x20AC;&#x201C;20 years for renovated dwellings) the dwelling can be let or sold at market rates. In practice though, municipally owned companies often continue to operate the units as de facto social housing in terms of rents and access. Housing allowances are also available for people below certain income ceilings, notwithstanding whether they rent or own their house. According to the legislation in force, the target groups for social housing are households that cannot secure for themselves adequate accommodation and need support. The policy supports in particular low-income households as well as families and other households with children, single parents, pregnant women, the elderly and homeless people.

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Examples of social housing projects from members of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions Social development of urban districts in the depressed region of Trier-Nord The Am Beutelweg Cooperative Housing Association as a force driving the social development of urban districts Trier-Nord 1991 Trier-Nord, especially the Ambrosius district in the Nells Ländchen area of the city, was a ‘social powder keg’ 20 years ago, with all the outward signs of being so too. It was, amongst other things, quite far behind in developing its housing stock. The apartments in the former Am Beutelweg barracks, which at that time belonged to the federal state, were in a ramshackle state, had never been properly renovated and had no bathrooms or central heating. The inhabitants had furnished their flats in a makeshift fashion and had made the best of it with their own resources. Most of them were dependent on state handouts and social and unemployment benefits.

Margit Conrad Rhineland-Palatinate Minister for Federal and European Affairs (Germany)

The initial questions which prompted the setting-up of the Cooperative Housing Association were as follows. How can the desperate housing situation be changed permanently and jointly with local inhabitants? In what ways can the lives and prospects of families and individuals living in this potentially explosive situation be improved on a lasting basis? What resources and potential arising from such a situation can be used?

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As early as the mid-1970s, a community development scheme (Gemeinwesenarbeit — GWA) was set up at the initiative of Trier University which operated in close contact with the inhabitants and undertook to tackle their social problems. However it became clear that social work alone was not enough to improve the basic situation in which these people were living. Founding a cooperative association to take on responsibility for and to develop this housing and to mobilise the self-help potential of the inhabitants seemed to be the most appropriate way of tackling the matter. The Am Beutelweg e.G. Housing Cooperative Association (WOGEBE) was set up in 1991, initially by 10 committed members of the public, and then expanded over the next few years to comprise around 700 members. First of all the WOGEBE acquired the former barracks building, Am Beutelweg, belonging to the federal state (100 housing units), then it later acquired municipal housing (300 housing units) and, when the French military pulled out in the 1990s, buildings which had been freed up for conversion. With the exception of about 40 flats, the association completely renovated and/or rebuilt these using resources set aside for the construction of social housing. This was not easy because the WOGEBE had no capital of its own when it set up the cooperative association and many of its members had, and still have, to cope with considerable financial and social problems. It was only able to succeed because the town council and state (Land) authorities were behind the basic idea and a joint approach was found for ensuring continuation of the WOGEBE’s activities. In 2010, the association’s housing stock comprised approximately 500 housing units, almost exclusively located in the less favoured area of Trier-Nord. Responsibility for the ‘Social city’ project In 2001, the WOGEBE took over responsibility for the ‘Social city’ federal-state programme, set up district management and was able, with its know-how and local knowledge, to push ahead with ideas and practical measures for developing the district, because from the outset it was clear that renovating housing alone was not enough to make fundamental changes to a local district.

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Infrastructure measures such as renovating the Trier-Nord community centre, improvements to the living environment, road improvements, construction of playgrounds and areas for children to play football and the implementation of regulatory measures such as the demolition of uninhabitable buildings were all integral parts of the integrated approach for Trier-Nord. The Trier-Nord community centre was extensively renovated and rebuilt; as the district centre, it is an important piece of infrastructure because many groups meet there and because it provides premises for after-school care and for primary and secondary schools. The expansion of two playgrounds in this part of Trier where there are large numbers of children was able to be carried out quickly thanks to financial support from the federal-state and state authorities. Other measures also complement the cooperative associationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s housing redevelopment plans very well, both in theory and in practice. Such parallel and coordinated developments have managed to give the Trier-Nord district a completely new face and are helping to remove the visible stigma of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;social powder kegâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. This process has not yet been completed; further issues (including storage areas for scrap, the need to increase diversity in the demographic structure by redeveloping wasteland, traffic calming measures and unemployment) still need to be tackled.

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Housing policy in Berlin — domestic and European challenges An extensive programme of publicly financed newbuilds and the upgrading and renovation of existing housing stock in the decade after reunification allowed Berlin, for the first time in its history, to resolve its housing shortage.

Hella Dunger-Löper State Secretary of the Land of Berlin to the Federal Government and for European Affairs and representative for civic engagement (Germany)

State responsibility for building flats and for the renovation and repair of housing stock therefore ended in 1998 and 2002 respectively. The only financial support currently available is low-interest state loans from the KfW Bank (Reconstruction Credit Institute) which are designed to promote energy-efficient improvements and to adapt buildings to the needs of the elderly. The housing market across Berlin as a whole is thus rather slack. — With around 5 % of properties standing empty, there is sufficient housing supply. — On national and international comparisons, Berlin fares well as a ‘rental city’: almost 87 % of its 1.89 million flats are rental properties which offer reasonable net rents, exclusive of heating, averaging EUR 4.89 per square metre per month. — The major part of Berlin’s housing stock is in good or satisfactory condition. In terms of its housing stock’s energy efficiency, Berlin holds joint first place with Stockholm on the ‘European Green Cities Index’.

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The chief reason behind continued property market weakness is that Berlin’s population, some 3.45 million, will, in all probability, remain more or less stable rather than increase over the next two decades. The sustained trend towards smaller households in particular, with approximately 52 % of households being formed of a single person and an overall average of 1.8 people per household, and an average flat size of 70.4 m² or 38.7 m² per person, allied to demand for second homes, is contributing to additional housing demand at present. Despite the more relaxed property market, housing policy for Berlin is nonetheless still a topic which is not yet done and dusted. Challenges exist in the following areas in particular. 1. Housing provision for low-income households: As a result of a collapse in industrial production and the post-unification dissolution of the East German government, Berlin still has the highest level of unemployed workers compared to the country as a whole and average income is around 85 % of the German average. The number of people reliant on revenue transfer is double the German average, with more than 20 % of households heavily dependent on state or municipal revenue transfer to maintain an adequate standard of living. The slack conditions prevailing in the property market at present should in fact make it possible to provide low-income households in urgent need of accommodation with appropriate housing relatively swiftly. And yet, each year, EUR 1 billion of the state budget goes to cover the accommodation costs borne by Germany’s local authorities. Unlocking the potential of Berlin’s economy, increasing employment and medium-term income prospects will be the key to solving this. Berlin currently boasts Germany’s highest level of growth in the commercial–industrial sector. This testifies to the increasing effectiveness of our measures both to boost the science sector and to promote cooperation between it and business, a fine illustration of which is provided by the Adlershof science park.

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2. Improving the energy efficiency of housing stock: Although Berlin’s housing stock currently fares very favourably in energy consumption comparisons, substantial medium- and long-term efforts still have to be undertaken to halve carbon dioxide emissions from buildings or to reduce them yet further by 2050. The medium-term objective here must be to at least double energy-efficiency improvements from the current rate of below 1 % of housing stock. Tried and tested technical solutions, such as insulating buildings and upgrading heating systems, can reduce energy consumption by at least 50 %. 3. Adapting housing stock to new requirements generated by demographic change: Modifying housing stock to meet the needs of older residents requires lifts to be installed and flats and buildings to be redeveloped in the least invasive manner possible. A more extensive range of care points in close proximity to residential flats and specifically adapted to the needs of the elderly must also be developed, a floor of the residential building modified for care services, for example, so that elderly residents may remain as long as possible in a familiar environment, should they so wish. The voluntary involvement of friends and family members would also relieve staffing and financial pressures on state services. Berlin’s six municipal housing associations, which own around 270 000 flats or around 14 % of housing stock, as well as the over 100 housing cooperatives, which own around 186 000 flats or 10 % of housing stock, are pioneers in all three of these areas. Many have signed up to agreements which commit them to reducing their carbon dioxide emissions. They work with social and care services to make residences age-appropriate. Considerable energy savings have been achieved by means of energy-efficiency improvements to prefabricated constructions on large housing estates, and by switching from district heating systems to the cogeneration of heat and electricity. The EU BEEN (Baltic Energy Efficiency Network) project has allowed Berlin’s experience in redeveloping prefabricated constructions to be transferred to the EU’s eastern European Member States, and indeed as far as China.

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Many larger construction companies such as the municipal Gesobau, for example, which is currently involved in the long-term energy-efficiency renovations of approximately 15 000 flats in the Brandenburg neighbourhood, do not fully benefit from the facility to pass on up to 11 % of modernisation costs that is possible under German rental regulation. The tenants’ ability to pay is the prime factor when calculating the passing on of costs in rental charges, and net rent inclusive of heating is subject to only moderate increases. Taking into account Berlin’s construction costs and climatic conditions, energy-efficiency improvements add up to approximately EUR 0.60 a month in savings on heating. Passing on full modernisation costs would result in rental rises of around EUR 1.40 per square metre. It is much more difficult to make a significant reduction in the carbon dioxide emissions of the approximately 1 million privately and individually owned flats. Since heating costs may be directly passed on to the tenant, owners have little economic incentive to undertake more effective energy-efficiency measures and find themselves in the so-called ‘investor–user dilemma’. And often sufficient capital resources are not available to owners. There is a medium-term need, therefore, for state aid programmes which both offer an increased range of incentives for investment and ensure the social sustainability of rental pricing policy.

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ITALY Overview of social housing policies in Italy Social housing was defined for the first time in 2008 and consists of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;dwellings rented on a permanent basis, as well as dwellings built or rehabilitated through public and private contribution or through the use of public funding, rented for at least 8 years and sold at an affordable price, aimed at achieving social mixâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Social rental housing represents 4 % of the national housing stock. There are three main types of publicly supported housing: subsidised housing (edilizia sovvenzionata), assisted housing (edilizia agevolata) and agreed housing (edilizia convenzionata). The so-called istituti autonomi per le case popolari, created in 1903 as public bodies and now transformed into autonomous public agencies with different legal statutes, own or manage the public housing stock, targeted to low income households. Municipalities also own social rental dwellings and some manage them directly. Since 1978, housing cooperatives and other private providers have been involved in the provision of social housing, including the foundations for social housing development (created by bank foundations in partnership with regions, municipalities and other private investors). Different providers are involved in different housing schemes: subsidised housing provision is a competence of the municipalities and public housing agencies, assisted housing is an almost exclusive competence of cooperatives, while all private and public providers are involved in the provision of agreed housing.

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Funding for social housing is provided by the regions. Together with the regions, municipalities co-finance personal aid for the rental sector and are in charge of allocating land to providers. The latest national housing plan sets — through the creation of an integrated real estate fund, consisting of a national fund and a network of local funds — the basis for new forms of public–private partnerships. The regions are responsible for defining the requirements for access to social housing, as well as the rules for setting rents. In addition, there is a national set of criteria for applicants for public social housing, which includes the income of the applicants, the place of residence and the nationality. Due to cuts to local budgets, the exemption from the municipal tax currently applying to social rental housing is most likely to disappear. At the same time, there is an increased need for rental housing caused by the growing impoverishment of Italian households. Given the fact that the current system for rent setting is based on the households’ income, the public rental sector will see its income from rents further reduced while having to face greater expenditure.

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An example of a social housing project from a member of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions Social mix and social housing model project ACER Reggio Emilia is a body set up by the provincial and municipal administration of Reggio Emilia province to run the provinceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social housing units, which number almost 4 700.

Sonia Masini President of the Province of Reggio Emilia (Italy)

As part of its management activity, ACER is also responsible for drafting proposals and adopting initiatives to avert and resolve social problems which arise in the districts and homes managed. Hitherto, allocation of public housing has been determined by a combination of eligibility points and availability of free homes. An allocation process based solely on these parameters, not taking into account qualitative criteria (characteristics of the inhabitants, origin, kind of family unit, etc.) can lead to ghettos being formed and to living situations which are difficult to manage because of social and economic phenomena, leaving the tenants of the social accommodation even poorer and without recourse to social inclusion instruments, marginalising not just the individual but a whole area and creating vicious circles of violence and crime.

THE EU

What is becoming clear is that the social disadvantage problems arising in social housing are due not just to the quality of composition of the family units (ghettoisation), but sometimes to the behavioural or social health problems (addiction, psychiatric illness, etc.) of some of the people living there. If large numbers of these people are housed together this can lower the overall quality of life of the buildingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inhabitants. In order to avert situations of housing disadvantages, an objective system for allocating housing needs to be developed which can ensure a social mix. A social mix is a varied ethnic, social, economic and demographic combination of inhabitants in a dwelling. Although the fact that demand for social housing disproportionately exceeds supply makes it difficult to implement an approach which goes beyond a points system, a social mix remains a goal based on responsibility of local authorities. In order to achieve a social mix of inhabitants in a social housing unit, the criteria determining the appropriate match between the applicantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs and the kind of housing available need to be taken into account. This will ensure a better quality of life in the long term. To define the ideal social mix, a systematic study of the actual composition of buildings needs to be carried out, in order to extrapolate analytical categories and make comparisons which will help to define the ideal building composition model, which would then be used in practice to allocate housing in a way which best reproduces the model in reality. What is proposed is therefore to define two parameters which can ensure and manage non-random geographical distribution of family units entitled to allocated housing. As well as the social mix variable, these parameters introduce the social weight variable for buildings, in order to obtain an objective instrument for a new housing allocation policy aimed at achieving and maintaining a good standard of living. Lastly, it is important to stress that the consideration of quality of life as a parameter for allocating housing requires the current system of classification to be revamped.

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This matrix is an innovative solution which has never been piloted or subjected to theoretical analysis. General aim To design and define a matrix to use as a model for allocating and distributing housing which can create the right social mix in buildings and districts, as a tool which can help public administrations fight poverty through inclusion and integration and build cohesive communities within districts. Sequence of pilot phase: November 2010â&#x20AC;&#x201C;November 2011 The main stages in the programme:

creation of indicators to analyse needs and quality of life in buildings and districts;

survey of a sufficiently wide sample of buildings to be mapped using indicators;

processing of sensitive data collected and definition of parameters for the matrix;

creation of the matrix;

testing of the matrix on one or more buildings;

presentation and dissemination of the results.

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The matrix produced at the end of this project will become an objective tool for public administrations, enabling them, for the first time, to reorganise and plan sustainable, balanced residential districts, moving away from an approach based solely on percentages of the various ethnic components. The matrix, which can be adjusted to the various socioeconomic characteristics of a given area, will therefore become a unique tool which has thus far never been implemented in an initiative to prevent poverty by building sustainable communities, preventing the formation of ghettoes and spiralling violence, socioeconomic disadvantage and urban decay.

This study, carried out with the aim of building an area-based social mixing model which can prevent ghettos forming and create sustainable societies, is unparalleled in literature on the subject and, along with the creation of the matrix itself, is a pioneer model when it comes to addressing the fight against poverty with a preventive initiative for planning and appropriate distribution of the family units allocated public housing. Once it has been created, the tool can also be used by other municipalities or areas.

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LUXEMBOURG Overview of social housing policies in Luxembourg In Luxembourg, social housing is low-cost housing provided both for rent and for sale to people with low income. Social rental housing represents 2 % of the total housing stock in the country. Social housing providers are public developers. The most important one is the Fonds pour le développement du logement et l’habitat, commonly referred to as the Fonds du Logement (Housing Fund), which manages the largest social rental stock in Luxembourg. The fund is an autonomous public body established by a law on housing aid that was introduced in 1979. It acts under the supervision of the Housing Ministry and its competences include the construction of low-cost housing, the purchase and development of building sites and the renovation of housing buildings. The second provider is the Société Nationale des Habitations à Bon Marché (National Affordable Housing Company), a joint-stock company created in 1919, whose shareholders are the state, some municipalities and some public institutions. Its activities include construction, land purchase, the elaboration of development plans and the drawing up and realisation of infrastructure for land development. It provides mainly affordable housing for home ownership. The third actor is represented by the municipal governments of the main towns and cities, which provide building sites and housing for rent as well as for access to ownership. For rental housing, state subsidies finance up to 70 % of the construction costs. Rents are set and regularly updated on the basis of the tenant household’s income. In the case of affordable housing for sale, public support (50 % of study and infrastructure costs) is available under the condition that at least 60 % of the homebuyers are people who qualify for a construction subsidy from the state (based on the household income). Furthermore, to guarantee social mix, at least 10 % of the dwellings in each new development must be social rental housing. Households which do not own, use or have a right to occupy a dwelling and whose income is below certain limits determined by law are eligible for social housing.

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An example of a social housing project from a member of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions Rents in subsidised housing in Luxembourg Firstly, it should be said that the overall housing situation in Luxembourg differs from that in neighbouring countries in a number of ways. Not only are around 75 % of the population homeowners, but some of the remaining 25 % have made the choice not to be homeowners â&#x20AC;&#x201D; for a number of reasons unrelated to money. Nevertheless, there has been a shortage of affordable housing for years. The state tries to do something about this by making new subsidised housing available through public housing ventures at a purchase price of between EUR 2 500 and 3 000 per square metre. Naturally, since this is around 35 % below market prices, this kind of purchase is subject to numerous conditions, which fall beyond our scope here.

Marc Schaefer Mayor of Vianden (Luxembourg)

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However, the supply of such housing falls far short of demand and, above all, is still unaffordable for a section of the population. This vulnerable section of the population therefore has to look to rented accommodation. Most of this rental accommodation is in private hands and some of it is blatantly overpriced. To give the vulnerable in society the chance of suitable housing, the government established a method for calculating rents in subsidised housing (in the Grand-Ducal Decree of 16 November 1998, amended and supplemented on 18 March 2008). This model — which to my knowledge is the only one of its kind in the European Union — could serve as a basis for discussion for other EU countries. Its application is mandatory in Luxembourg to all accommodation whose building or renovation is subsidised by the public purse. In the main, this accommodation is the property of the local authority or public developers. Who gets this kind of housing? There is an application procedure for these flats. The first criterion is the size of the flat compared with the size of the household. Three-bedroom flats, for instance, are reserved for a family with two children over the age of twelve or three children below that age. Where several families are in the running for the same flat (which is usually the case), it goes to the one with the lowest annual income. How is the rent calculated? There are two parts to the annual rent. i

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Twenty-five per cent depends on the size of the flat; at present, the yearly rent per square metre is EUR 47.45. For a 100 m2 three-bedroom flat, this component would come to EUR 1 186 (0.25 × EUR 47.45 × 100 m2). Cumulative 10 % reductions of this amount can be granted where flats have not been renovated before the tenants move in or where there is no central heating or only single glazing. Supplements of 10 % can be added if the building has a lift or the flat has a fully equipped kitchen.

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The remaining 75 % takes account of the total household income (after tax), including child allowance and all other benefits. The total amount due is divided by the number of ‘occupier units’ (weighted as follows: first adult = 1 unit; each additional adult = 0.7; first child = 0.50; each additional child = 0.55 — a family consisting of two adults and two children therefore equals 2.75 units). The annual income per unit so calculated is compared with the legal minimum income. If the income per unit is lower, rent is set at 9 % of the total income. If the income per unit is higher, the rent is increased by 1 % for each step of EUR 420. This component of the rent is about EUR 1 885 per annum for a family with two children and an annual income of EUR 27 900 including child allowance.

In this sample calculation, then, a four-member household with an annual income of EUR 27 900 and occupying a 100 m2 flat pays a rent of EUR 3 071 a year — or EUR 256 monthly — without heating costs. A similar flat in Luxembourg City would be between EUR 1 100 and EUR 1 400 without heating costs on the open market. Weaknesses of the system 1. The level of the family’s debt is not taken into account. This means that a high-income family pays a high rent even if little of the original income remains after paying off debts. I think the legislators should improve this situation. 2. Far too few flats are available. Local authorities should provide additional accommodation. Some authorities, especially in the south of the country, are aware of their responsibilities, but others deliberately shun social housing. Chief among these are authorities around Luxembourg City governed by the centre right, who are frightened of alienating their electorates living in luxury homes. A typical example of social exclusion. To address this, authorities would have to be obliged to provide a minimum of council housing.

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MALTA Overview of social housing policies in Malta The social housing policy in Malta strongly encourages home ownership, therefore the tendency is to distinguish between affordable housing for middle-income people (generally for sale and, most recently, for shared ownership) and social housing (for rent) for the neediest. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Social housingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; therefore refers to the provision of housing and housing assistance to households that are in particularly severe need, usually on a rental basis. Rental social housing is provided through government-owned dwellings and constitutes 6 % of the total housing stock. Under the right-to-buy scheme, tenants of government units have the possibility to become owners of the flat they live in. Since 2005, there has also been a shared ownership scheme. The setting-up of the Housing Authority in 1976 represented the cornerstone of social housing policies in Malta. It brought about schemes aimed at improving the housing conditions of very low-income groups and at promoting home ownership. The Department of Social Housing of the Ministry for the Family and Social Solidarity manages some properties belonging to private landlords whose residential properties were requisitioned and rented at a regulated rent regime, and also dwellings for rent built by the Housing Authority. Social housing construction is directly funded by public resources provided through the Housing Authority. Registration on waiting lists (managed by the Department of Social Housing) is based on the criteria of income ceilings. Priority is given to particular target groups and according to their housing conditions. In the past, units for rent were reserved only for people on the waiting list of the Department of Social Housing, but the authority changed the procedure by creating now a tenure mixture when allocating units. Thus, units are sold to people under the shared ownership scheme, some are allocated for rent by the department while others are reserved for the elderly and groups with special needs.

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An example of a social housing project from a member of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions Housing of vulnerable groups in Malta Generally, housing problems for vulnerable groups relate in particular to: 1

their economic situation, particularly unemployment and low income workers;

welfare regimes and how strong the safety net is;

the housing regime in terms of the legal provisions and the institutional framework;

social factors in terms of equity as opposed to discrimination against specific groups or individuals.

Michael Cohen Mayor of Kalkara (Malta)

The role of the economic system is clearly a key factor influencing housing hardship. Not only do the level of the GDP and economic trends such as the recession that are being experienced have an effect on the housing system, but the development of the economic system itself has significance in its own right.

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Different welfare regimes in Europe have different priorities in terms of helping vulnerable social groups through the social safety net and social institutions, such as providers of homes for the elderly, childcare, etc. The consequences of welfare regimes on the housing situation are important because a poor safety net increases the probability of housing problems, such as inadequate and insecure housing. Housing regimes in terms of the legal provisions and institutional framework are a major factor behind the difficult housing situation for some vulnerable groups, but their effects should be interpreted in the context of the existing economic and welfare regimes. It is one thing discussing housing policy in a country that has a developed welfare system where often systems have gone through the test of time and have been changed to fit the needs of the people, and another discussing housing policy in a poor country where systems are still struggling to address the most pressing housing needs. In spite of Article 61 of the UN Habitat Agenda, which compels governments to provide adequate housing for disadvantaged categories of people, Article 8 of the EU Convention on Human Rights, which concerns itself with the right to family life and the home, and Article 31 of the revised European Social Charter, which speaks about the right for housing, the legal provisions in a given country or the lack of them still present a serious barrier to access to adequate housing by people in vulnerable positions. One important aspect is the role of institutions, their set up, management, human resources development and capacity building to respond to changing needs. Moreover, other actors such as civil society have to be included as a full partner at all times. Adequate human resources training and development is critical.

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The Access projects were set up in Malta in 2002 with the aim of bringing under one roof a number of social welfare services, including the housing services, to create synergy and close collaboration between the state providers of social services. In one particular area with great housing needs the housing authority teamed up with a social welfare agency within Access to reach out to people who could benefit from housing-improvement schemes. The scheme was a success as the residents identified themselves with the social workers and were ready to trust them and allow them to negotiate terms with the housing authority for the improvements to take place. Previously when the Housing Authority tried to go it alone it had failed miserably. In order to reach out to people in need, services need to be based in the community and NGOs are often well positioned to do this. NGOs constitute an important, even vital, resource for public service providers, public policymakers and users. However, evidence has shown that in Malta, real cooperation between the public authorities and actors in civil society is all too rare. In Malta, the shelters for the homeless and other people in vulnerable situations, such as people with mental health problems, migrants and homeless young people, attract funding, albeit very limited, from the housing authority and the ministries for health and social welfare. This modus operandi between the institutions and the NGOs has given good results and a contractual obligation established in this context helped to influence NGOs in their management practices on the one hand, and on the other hand it helped the relevant institutions to be sensitised to the social implications of the service that they are meant to provide.

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In spite of these efforts, the general attitude of the housing institutions in Malta is one that is still characterised by isolation and divorced from a process of consultation with NGOs. There is insufficient autonomy being allowed at the local level, especially in the use of resources but also as regards participation in decision-making, implementation and resource mobilisation. Their idea of decentralisation or devolution seems to be an exercise by central government and its Institutions to offload responsibilities that they are incapable of dealing with in the first place. The Association of Local Authorities in Malta proposed a scheme whereby the revenue from the leasing of social housing is channelled to the local councils in order that they will be able to carry out maintenance on these apartments and keep them in good condition. The association argued that the local councils are in an ideal position to quantify the needs for maintenance in these housing estates, as well as to supervise and monitor the upkeep. However, most importantly, the association wanted to empower the community to take ownership of the surrounding environment, take responsibility and engage in what constitutes the well-being of the community. They strongly believe that their structure is more responsive and therefore provides a better and more efficient service, the imbalance between users and the administration is changed in favour of the user, the services gain greater legitimacy and the users become more confident and self reliant, while involvement is the best education for democracy. The association was able to align a social measure that at face value is about upkeep to the greater value of empowerment and the democratisation of the community. Unfortunately, the government has not yet appreciated the positive implications that a scheme like this offers. However, the association shall continue to push for this development as it believes that the collective well being of the people and the control of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s environment are closely intertwined.

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POLAND Overview of social housing policies in Poland In Poland it is difficult to define what constitutes ‘social housing’, as it includes rental dwellings and social rental dwellings owned by municipalities, dwellings with regulated rents provided by non-profit housing associations (called TBS) and dwellings provided by state-owned companies or the state treasury for their employees. All ‘protected dwellings’ constitute social housing. Owner-occupied housing constructed or purchased with state aid is also considered as social housing. Social housing in the form of municipal housing is still an important part of the stock, but construction of new municipal housing has almost stopped recently. There are currently 393 TBS companies registered, which can take several legal forms and be privately or publicly owned or present mixed ownership. Additionally, cooperatives still administer 19.4 % of the total housing stock in Poland and provide two main types of tenure: owner-occupied right to cooperative dwelling and tenement-type right to cooperative dwelling.

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The public Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) currently issues preferential credits to TBSs and cooperatives for construction of social dwellings. Loans cover up to 70 % of project value. TBS organisations cover the remaining 30 % through their own resources and often require tenants to fill a part of the gap between the cost of construction and the amount of the public loan. Rents are cost based and limits are imposed by law. Municipalities mainly use their own budget to expand the stock of municipal dwellings through new construction and acquisition of existing dwellings. Rents in municipal dwellings are set at the local level. Furthermore, municipalities can also apply for subsidies from a subsidy fund located in BGK for the construction and renovation of social rental dwellings for the poorest. In the case of social rental dwellings provided by municipalities, rents represent a maximum of 50 % of the municipal rent, and in this case tenants have no right to housing allowances. Finally, the central state also subsidises municipalities and NGOs active in the construction and renovation of dwellings for homeless people and those with special needs. Criteria vary according to the different programmes and access to social housing is based mainly on peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s income. The maximum income per person per household is defined by law and it is linked to the average salaries in regions or is defined by the local authority. There are also specific ceilings with regard to the size of the allocated social dwelling in accordance with the housing needs of the household.

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An example of a social housing project from a member of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions Combating the threat of rural homelessness — a case study In the booming Polish property market, huge demand for residential properties — whether already existing or newly built — is pushing prices up fast. The average flat costs PLN 4020 per square metre (around EUR 1000), but prices per square metre vary widely, with the most expensive properties in large cities. In the Lower Silesia region, flat prices vary from PLN 2710 to PLN 6400 per square metre (EUR 690–EUR 1700). The average salary in Poland (as of July 2010) is PLN 3403 (around EUR 865), with a minimum wage of PLN 1317 gross (around EUR 332). With such low earnings, the average salary is not even enough to buy one square metre. A large percentage of Poles disadvantaged due to poverty, illness or social exclusion cannot afford to buy their own homes. Some of them may be at risk of homelessness.

Leszek Swietalski Mayor of Stare Bogaczowice (Poland)

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In Poland, putting in place the conditions to meet the housing needs of the community is a local council responsibility. Based on the principles established by law and in situations provided for therein, local authorities provide social and replacement housing, and also meet the housing needs of low-income households. In Poland most local authorities have only limited scope to carry out such tasks as required by law due to the lack of council housing, and a shortage of funding for repairs to existing stock or construction of new housing. The average waiting time for council housing in Poland is 2 years, but there have been cases of the very poorest waiting from 7 to 20 years. The share of council housing in the housing market, currently 10 %, is gradually shrinking — this is one of the main problems faced by Polish local authorities. The housing problems of the very poor have always represented a challenge for our local council. The ‘Strategy for the resolution of social problems’ developed for the 2006–13 period identifies the building new social housing as one of five key areas (together with state education, healthcare, social security benefits and the problems of alcoholism and drug abuse) and sets an overall objective of ensuring that housing for local residents is of an appropriate standard, together with the specific objectives of fully covering housing needs, looking for alternative means of meeting housing needs and providing large families with better housing conditions. An analysis of housing stock showed that the local council had 109 council flats in 95 buildings. 100 % of these buildings were constructed prior to 1945, and in 80 % of them technical conditions were described as satisfactory. There were 32 families on the waiting list for council housing, including orphans, single mothers, persons with disabilities and persons evicted by court order from their previous housing. Some had been waiting for suitable housing for more than 13 years.

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Among the properties owned by the local authority was a disused school building, which had been earmarked for use as a retirement home. In the absence of a potential investor, the local authority decided to undertake a detailed analysis of its financial capacity and to look into using the site for persons at risk of exclusion. It was proposed to develop it for social housing. On 29 March 2007 a contract was signed for the preparation of a renovation and conversion project. After completion of the preparatory work in February 2008, planning permission was granted in March 2009. At the same time, the local authority applied to the National Economic Bank for government funding to build new social housing, as the only available source of state funding to support local authorities in this field. The local council received a central government grant of PLN 220 202.00 (around EUR 56 000), with a further PLN 513 806.74 (around EUR 130 400) coming from its own resources. As a result, 10 centrally heated council flats equipped with bathrooms and electric cookers were built. The new flats are of a higher standard than other council housing. The total floor area of the building is 604 m2, with an average habitable area of 46.44 m2 in each flat. The building was put into service on 30 September 2009. Prior to this, a review was carried out of the housing waiting list, with 12 of the 32 applications being turned down. A team comprising representatives of the administration and the head of the welfare centre was set up to allocate the flats.

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In Poland as in other countries, council housing — especially estates or blocks of flats — tends to become a hotbed of social problems, eventually degenerating into slums. In view of this, we tried to choose tenants to avoid such problems, by linking residents’ needs to their capacity to adapt. We decided to select tenants and to manage the housing in such a way as to avoid social stigmatisation and potential lasting exclusion of residents. The flats were allocated to persons from various social groups (backgrounds) who, in the opinion of the team, were seen as having the greatest need and showed the most signs of being community minded. The chosen residents included a single mother with four children (including one disabled child), three other single mothers, two disabled families and one homeless alcoholic just out of rehab. Mutual responsibility was used as a means of discouraging vandalism and the building was also entrusted to a ‘caretaker’, a formerly homeless and alcoholic tenant. The site is also discreetly monitored by social workers, who are required to report any irregularities in its operation and use. Residents were handed the keys at a special ceremony, attended by local councillors and the local authorities. This ceremony was an opportunity for the residents and their families (who come from different places) to meet and get to know one another. Residents received their keys and rental contracts from the mayor, who congratulated them on their new flats, introduced them to the caretaker and asked them to take care of their ‘own house’. This is one of the few such projects to be implemented in a small rural municipality.

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SPAIN Overview of social housing policies in Spain The right to housing is guaranteed by the Spanish Constitution. Social housing in Spain is publicly protected housing (the so-called Vivienda de Protecci贸n Publica). Unlike most social housing models in the EU, the Spanish one consists almost entirely of owner-occupation. Only a small proportion of this housing, currently on the increase, is offered for rent. The main characteristic of protected housing is that construction, renovation and buying are subsidised by the state through reduced-interest loans to providers. In exchange for this, dwellings complying with a number of conditions concerning size and quality are sold or let at below-market prices to people with revenues below certain income ceilings. The entire home ownership sector represents 85 % of the total housing stock in Spain, while the rental sector is the smallest in Europe, corresponding to 11 % of the total housing stock, and it is concentrated quite exclusively in a few big cities such as Barcelona and Madrid. Only about 2 % of the stock is social rental housing. Public support for protected housing is dwelling based and open to all sorts of providers. Public developers, commercial developers, non-profit organisations and cooperatives, as well as individuals who, alone or collectively, wish to buy or rehabilitate a home, may officially contribute and bring their financial help. Protected housing is mainly financed through funding from the National Housing Plan and, to a lesser extent, from regional plans, as well as borrowing from private credit institutions. The state concludes agreements with credit institutions, which commit themselves to providing loans at favourable rates. Besides access to favourable loans, protected housing can in some cases also benefit from direct public aid, that is, grants or subsidisation of loans. On the basis of income distribution, depending on the type of subsidised housing, broadly speaking over 80 % of households have access to this type of housing. The person who buys, is allocated or builds the dwelling for personal use must not own or have a permanent right to use another dwelling, must not have obtained financing from the Housing Plan over the previous 10 years and must have an income below certain levels. Disabled people and dependent persons have priority, and the regional governments can establish other types of requirements.

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An example of a social housing project from a member of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions Housing policy to promote social inclusion in the Basque Country Access to decent housing is undoubtedly a key aspect of social inclusion. Potential risk factors for social exclusion include the following. — Insufficient financial resources. Patxi Lopez Alvarez President of the Basque Country (Spain)

— Disability (mental, age-related).

physical,

psychological

— Different ethnic affiliation from that of the host country. Measures for promoting social inclusion — Adequate level of social cohesion. — Support to promote independence by providing small-scale accommodation for 5 years. — Emergency welfare support, provided in ad hoc situations. — Additional housing benefits. — Urban planning: in new areas, obligation to reserve land to accommodate 75 % of housing developed under the protection scheme.

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Deciding where to direct resources The medium-term objective: develop an adequate supply of public social housing to meet demand from people at risk of social exclusion. In the meantime, it is necessary to complement this with programmes for letting vacant housing (existing housing stock, on the free market), with the government as middleman between the tenant and the owner, i.e. acting as guarantor for the transaction and controlling rent. Rental housing Only 7 % of main homes are rented, as opposed to 25 % in the European Union. Only 29 % of social housing applicants are interested in renting. Nevertheless, it is considered the most appropriate option for people at risk of social exclusion. The rent for social lets is calculated on the basis of the tenant’s means (rent below 30 % of the tenant’s income). Home ownership Basically, this corresponds to private initiative and caters for the intermediate sector, which although not at risk of social exclusion cannot afford free-market prices. It is designed not to take up administrative resources but to be self-financing. Support consists in reserving land at controlled prices and giving access to soft loans agreed between the government and financial institutions. As compensation, the ‘protected’ rating is permanent. Housing prices are regulated. The price paid by buyers is adjusted to their means to ensure that it does not exceed a third of their income. A guarantee and compensation fund is set up to regulate the differences.

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Rehabilitation of buildings The Basque Country has a population of 2.1 million, and a replacement rate of 0.676. A 1.3 % decrease is expected by 2020. There is an existing housing stock of 997 000. Thirty-three per cent of these are over 50 years old and most of these are in need of rehabilitation. Forty per cent are between 30 and 50 years old and predate energy legislation. A high percentage of people living in historical centres are at risk of social exclusion (the elderly, migrants, young low-income groups, etc.). Bearing in mind that it is more sustainable to rehabilitate than to build, and that this avoids urban degradation, promotes social integration and boosts the economy, as well as avoiding further building sprawl, the Basque government has set up a system of subsidies. We are developing a strategic building rehabilitation and urban regeneration plan setting out priorities and introducing mechanisms to implement these programmes. In 2011, support for energy efficiency and accessibility projects was stepped up. Promoting energy efficiency Housing construction accounts for 24.58 % of total home energy consumption (46 % is for heating and 20 % for hot water). In order to meet the 20-20-20 targets by 2020, we need to impact decisively on demand for heating in order to reduce it by 45 %. The strategic plan sets out actions to improve energy efficiency based on an analysis of 144 existing buildings in different climate zones in the Basque Country. On the basis of various scenarios, different levels of intervention have been proposed to replace existing heating and water-heating systems with more efficient ones and for action on building envelopes. The results are being used to assess energy savings as well as the cost of inaction. This project is part of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Open houseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; project for defining European sustainability guidelines.

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Improving access The conditions for accessing a significant percentage of existing housing stock are precarious. Over 80 000 buildings do not have a lift. The removal of architectural barriers facilitates the social inclusion of large numbers of older people or people with mobility problems, who are currently entirely dependent on external assistance for this reason.

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UNITED KINGDOM Overview of social housing policies in the UK Social housing in the UK is low-cost housing allocated on the basis of need. With the exception of Northern Ireland, where it is provided only for rent, in the rest of the United Kingdom social housing includes the provision of rental dwellings and affordable home ownership, as well as shared-ownership schemes. It is generally provided by councils and non-profit organisations such as housing associations, although there are differences across the country: social housing accounts for 17.5 % of the total homes in England, while it is about 24 % of the total housing stock in Scotland, around 17 % in Northern Ireland and about 16.4 % in Wales. The dramatic reduction of council house building, combined with sales to sitting tenants and the transfer of over 1 million local authority dwellings to housing associations between 1988 and 2009, has meant that housing associations are now the main delivery vehicle for affordable housing in England, currently managing 54 % of social housing. A decline in public provision of social housing occurred also in Scotland and in Wales. The situation is different in Northern Ireland because there was no large-scale stock transfer of public housing to housing associations.

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The provision of new housing and associated land costs is financed through three funding sources: housing associationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; reserves, government grants and private finance (bank loans or funding raised on the capital markets). Capital subsidy is coordinated by the devolved administrations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. As for the beneficiaries of social housing, since the implementation of the 1977 Housing Act all municipalities in the United Kingdom have theoretically been obliged to provide housing for those in housing need, assuming they meet a certain number of objective criteria and match the target groups to be cared for with priority. In 2003, the Scottish parliament adopted the Homelessness Scotland Act, a law which goes beyond the 1977 Housing Act. As of 2012, all Scottish citizens who are not adequately housed will be able to file claims in court to obtain permanent housing from their local authorities if their application for permanent housing is not dealt with. The social housing sector is undergoing significant changes also in England. The Localism Bill, expected to take effect in April 2012, will shift power from central government to communities and it is hoped that problems previously encountered in relation to investment and regulation will be avoided.

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An example of a social housing project from a member of the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions People at the heart of regeneration Raploch is a small, proud community with a population of around 4 000 people nestled below the historic Stirling Castle in a very beautiful part of Scotland with easy access to both the rural Trossachs and major city road networks.

Corrie McChord Member of Stirling City Council (UK)

However, due to the decline in local industries and outdated housing policies, the community has suffered from severe social and economic deprivation over many decades. All too familiar issues such as low income levels, poor educational attainment, lack of skills, poor health, high incidence of worklessness and alcohol and substance misuse are all too common in the area. The Raploch Urban Regeneration Company (URC) was established in 2004 to address these issues. The URC has approached this in a holistic manner by fully combining the physical regeneration with social regeneration, with the local community at the heart of all activities. The main physical regeneration includes the building of 900 new homes, a community and educational campus, new roads and utilities, open space development and training and employment facilities.

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The community has been involved in all stages of the regeneration process. Examples of involvement include participation in the design of the master plan and design guide, selection of the developer to take forward the physical development, inclusion in workshops to equip them to understand and make informed decisions on the design of the houses and leading on the innovative creation of visitor attractions and play areas. The homes are a mix of 650 for private ownership and 250 for social rent. A priority purchase scheme has been put in place to ensure that local people have first choice of buying a new home. At the time of going on sale in January 2008, people queued overnight to secure their purchase of these homes, even though the global economic crisis has now resulted in a slowing down of sales. The homes being built have been given a very good eco rating and already many of the local residents have commented on money saved and the comfort inside the houses. A Scottish government initiative has been promoted by Stirling Council and a home insulation programme has been introduced to assist those in the older houses in the area. Following a recent visit to Freiburg in Germany, the URC is now developing, along with partners, a low-carbon mixed-use development that will be an example for other communities. The building will provide homes and business opportunities for local people. Through a legally binding â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;community benefit in procurementâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; clause, the developer and other contractors are obliged to provide a minimum of 450 jobs and training places for unemployed people over the lifespan of the regeneration.

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The URC has its own accredited training centre which provides training and employment for unemployed young people and adults. The training provided will assist people to access the jobs with the developer and other local employers. The training centre also provides non-vocational support with assistance from partners to address other ‘softer’ barriers to finding employment, such as health and fitness problems, financial issues, housing problems, substance misuse, personal and employability support and aftercare. This people-centred approach ensures a lasting progression out of unemployment into a better quality way of life for those who want it. Clients from the training centre have worked on a number of infrastructure works such as building new roads, community gardens, a historic river walk and cycle paths in addition to the building of their new homes. This gives local people a huge sense of pride and ownership in developing their own community. The URC’s regeneration work has been greatly assisted in the past by European funds from both the ERDF and the ESF. Although Raploch is now not an eligible spatially targeted area due to the fact that is sits within Stirling, it will be submitting an application through the Community Planning Partnership under the newly released funds within ESF Priority 5.

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The community enterprise won an ESF award in 2008 for ‘best impact in the community’ and ‘best demonstration project’ in 2008 for women in construction. Consultation with and empowerment of the community is an integral part of the regeneration process. Processes are in place to inform, involve and enable the community to be included in all stages of the regeneration. Activities include door-to-door surveys on specific issues, professional workshops to help with the understanding of home design, master planning, regular monthly meetings with the community group, membership of the community on the board of the URC and other distinct URC projects. As the URC completes its remit, the community will be in a position to take control and make their own choices and decisions for the sustainability and continued growth of their community.

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PART III Europa Habitabilis: housing through the lens of Lo誰c Delvaulx

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In times of deep financial, economic and social crisis, when thousands of citizens all over Europe are experiencing great difficulties in finding or keeping decent housing, the formulation of a European response to such a challenge is needed more than ever. Is affordable and universally accessible housing an unattainable dream? What can be done to guarantee better governance in the field of housing? How can housing contribute to fostering growth and sustainability? In a Europe of 500 million people and of ever-growing social precariousness, finding credible answers, backed by a budget commensurate with the task at hand, is a major challenge for progressive decision-makers. Through ‘Europa Habitabilis’, Belgian photographer Loïc Delvaulx depicts the problem by capturing different housing realities in five European cities: Brussels, Budapest, Dunkirk, Lisbon and Malmö. His photographs, sober and deeply humane, are usually set against a sharply dehumanised urban canvas, confronting us with the all too often unsettling truths of social housing in Europe. Following the lives of ordinary people, the artist brings to the front a crumbling social Europe, yet he manages to resist blind pessimism and to accurately portray some redeeming initiatives, be it public or private, that put social inclusion and solidarity at the heart of their action. Loïc Delvaulx has been observing the world as a photographer, director and cameraman since completing his studies in social communications at the IHECS (Institut des Hautes Études des Communications Sociales, Brussels). His photographic and film-making activities have led him to explore all continents and to concentrate primarily on social, political and cultural themes. He is currently focusing on social exclusion and the housing problem in Europe. Several institutions and associations have collaborated with Loïc Delvaulx on the production of audiovisual works. Since 2007, he has been represented by the Paris-based Rapho agency. In 2007, he was the image assistant for the National Geographic Channel on their documentary film ‘Waking the baby mammoth’ (Siberia), as well as for the France 2 television programme ‘Rendez-vous en terre inconnue’ (Mongolia). For 3 years, from 2007, he also worked as camera operator for Radio Television Belge (RTBF) on their programme ‘C’est du Belge’. He is currently working, in collaboration with Gédéon Programmes (France), on a 52-minute documentary film on Voodoo.

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BRUSSELS In the Brussels-Capital region, the housing market is under great pressure, not least because of the demographic boom of the last 10 years and the addition of 170 000 new inhabitants. With growing waiting lists for social housing provision and an invisible homeless population estimated at 2 000, there is an urgent need for decent housing at an affordable price. Alongside those used to living in the streets, it is families and young people in the Belgian capital that catch LoĂŻc Delvaulxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention. He follows the pernicious emergence of this new population group, hardest hit by the current economic conjuncture and joggling between destitution and survival It is worth noting that, since 1980, social housing has been a regional competence in Belgium. (More information on social housing policies in Belgium can be found on page 64.)

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Brussels, Marolles district. Bibi has seven children. In the winter of 2009, he and his family were evicted from their flat after he got into debt and fell behind with the rent. He is about to leave this emergency accommodation for social housing and a new start.

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Brussels, Marolles district. Fourteen-year-old Ken studies in his parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; room in the emergency housing which serves as their temporary home. His parents place great importance on the education of their seven children.

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Brussels, Marolles district. The emergency housing that is home to Bibi, his wife and their seven children. The evening meal often only consists of bread and chocolate.

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Brussels, motorway exit for LiĂ¨ge. Homeless for several years, Bernard has made himself a tent out of plastic bags.

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Brussels, public showers at Brussels Free University. Alain has been homeless for 5 years, following personal problems. He comes here for a shower every 10 days, accompanied by his mentor, Elvis.

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Brussels, Bois de la Cambre, site of an abandoned house. This shed is home to Alain and Elvis, both of whom are homeless.

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Brussels, the so-called ‘Chicago District’ in the north of the city. Michel, aged 32, has lost both his home and his job. His family has turned its back on him. With nowhere left to go, he finds refuge at the Salvation Army for a few nights before going back onto the street.

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Brussels, the SAMU social emergency welfare service. Rock fan Michel wears the only possessions he has left: his leather jacket, Santiago boots and his lucky US flag.

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BUDAPEST Loïc Delvaulx wanders around the eighth district of Budapest, certainly the most deprived and marginalised neighbourhood in the city, home to poor migrants from the countryside in search of a brighter future in the capital. Despite a national programme that began in 2004, seeking to minimise disparities and boost urban regeneration, the eighth district continues to attract those most deprived, who can afford to rent only seriously substandard accommodation, in great supply in the area. In Hungary, social dwellings are rental housing units owned by municipal governments and allocated on the basis of social criteria. Publicly owned housing in Hungary has decreased from 20 % to 3.7 % over the latest 20 years, and today it is concentrated in the biggest municipalities. The privatisation process was already ongoing before the 1990s, but mass privatisation started in 1990, when the public stock was sold to tenants at a giveaway price (10–15 % of the market value). At the same time, the government moved out of the housing sector and local governments were given increasing responsibilities in this field. As a result of decentralisation, local governments are responsible for policy-making in the housing field and are free to decide how to manage their housing stock, leading to different approaches throughout the country. Public housing is basically financed from the municipal budget, and there have been no national programmes supporting social housing development since 2004.

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Budapest, eighth district. With no room for her in her motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s insalubrious flat, 8-year-old Magdi wakes up in a house belonging to friends of her step-father. Three adults and five children sleep in this one 20 m2 room, in accommodation that has no bathroom or toilet. All the furniture and other decorations were found on the street.

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Budapest, eighth district. A man awakes from another drunken sleep in an insalubrious 15 m2 room shared by eight people. The official tenant lets his back room to a Roma family. The mother (aged 60), the daughter and the brother’s two girlfriends are all engaged in prostitution. The family’s prostitution ‘business’ is run by the son.

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Budapest, suburb of Hรกros. Evicted families are to be rehoused following a decision to demolish their homes, considered to be too dilapidated to be redeveloped. Far from the city centre and economic activity, the neighbourhood is slowly turning into a ghetto.

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Budapest, eighth district. Having just bought a mattress, a man in a wheelchair crosses the site of the Corvin project (a new shopping mall and luxury housing development). Many local residents have been expropriated as a result of this project and rehoused elsewhere, in poor neighbourhoods.

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Outskirts of Budapest. Sanyi and his wife live nestled between the hot water pipes that supply the city with water. Their former home has been demolished. They do not have the means to rent another apartment and live on what they can scavenge from dustbins. Suffering from tuberculosis and too weak to walk, Sanyi has been confined to his mattress for the last 4 years.

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Outskirts of Budapest. A homeless couple squats in an abandoned building.

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Budapest, eighth district. Aged 53 and blind since birth, Anik贸 has temporarily regained her eyesight, after five operations. She has run away from her abusive and violent husband, leaving him in the flat she rented. He has failed to pay the bills and run up a series of debts. Now heavily in debt, she has found refuge in this tiny, insalubrious 20 m2 room, originally intended for commercial use.

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Budapest. Three siblings wake up in the one-room flat belonging to their stepfather’s friends. The youngest has speech problems having been beaten and locked up by his mother’s ex-partner. This tiny 20 m2 room serves as a bedroom for three adults and five children.

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Budapest, eighth district. This insalubrious flat is home to a poor family whose daughter suffers from autism.

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Budapest, Dzsumbuj. A woman and daughter come home from the shops in a neighbourhood that has become a neglected ghetto following the closure of the local factories.

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Budapest, Dzsumbuj. Having failed to pay several bills, this unemployed mother has had her electricity cut off. She may end up homeless in 2012, when the building is due to be emptied for demolition.

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Hรกros suburb of Budapest. Evicted families are to be rehoused following a decision to demolish their homes, considered to be too dilapidated to be worth redeveloping. A Roma family has built their own house using whatever materials they can find.

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Budapest, eighth district. Stairwell in a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;condominiumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (shared housing, consisting of several flats, sold cheaply by the government after the fall of communism). The residents, on low incomes, do not have the resources needed to maintain the building. In many cases, the buildings become so dilapidated that the city authorities and investors decide to knock them down and rebuild on the same site.

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Budapest. Temporary shelter where this mother and her 5-year-old daughter have been living for 5 months. Both parents have lost their jobs. Although the husband works in the underground economy, they do not have enough money to rent a flat. If the police find their makeshift shelter, the girl will be taken into care.

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Budapest, eighth district. Demolition of a ‘condominium’ for the Corvin project (construction of a shopping mall and luxury flats). Many vulnerable, low-income residents have been expropriated as a result of this project.

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DUNKIRK In Dunkirk, a city of 200 000 inhabitants, some 300 dwellings, destined for those in need of social housing, are funded by the municipality. Loïc Delvaulx observes the inhabitants of two of Dunkirk’s poorest districts, Jeu de Mail and Carré de la Vieille. He realises that the biggest challenge is to go a step further than ‘social diversity’ and to foster genuine ‘social desegregation’, that is, the coexistence in the same district of households with different revenues. The city of Dunkirk strives to sustainably integrate the two districts into its overall project of social and economic growth. To this effect, an urban and social regeneration programme has been underway since 2003. Social housing in France is represented by the so called ‘HLM’ sector. (More information on social housing policies in France on page 76)

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Dunkirk, Jeu de Mail district. The district is composed entirely of social housing. An urban renovation project has been underway since 2007, with the aim of demolishing the large housing developments, improving access and reconstructing the district with mixed housing. A local resident points to his block of flats, which is to be demolished.

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Dunkirk. Two residents of a maison relais spend the evening chatting. This type of reintegration accommodation, situated between mainstream rental accommodation and social housing, is intended for vulnerable people who still need individual support.

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Dunkirk. Marie-JosĂŠ lives in a flat that has no kitchen or bathroom. She found shelter here after being battered by her partner. She gets the minimum wage. The landlord charges her a monthly rent of EUR 356, leaving her with EUR 200 to make ends meet until the end of the month.

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Dunkirk, Jeu de Mail district. Francine has lived in the building for 26 years. She is getting ready to move out of her flat, which is to be demolished. Previously composed entirely of social housing, the district is to be remodelled to offer a range of housing options.

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Dunkirk, FLIU (night shelter). SĂŠbastien, aged 30, was taken into care when he was three because his mother was unable to look after him. When he left care at 18, he had no plans for his future and no idea what to do next. He is has been homeless for over 10 years and suffers from schizophrenia.

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Dunkirk, FLIU (night shelter). Two residents smoking in the outside shelter.

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Dunkirk, FLIU (night shelter). A young father sleeps opposite pictures of his children.

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Dunkirk. Site for travellers. A grandmother, daughter and granddaughter from Romania in their caravan. The fact that they have chosen this way of life does not make it any less precarious.

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Dunkirk, Jeu de Mail district. A young man is searched by a police patrol. The district used to be controlled by dealers and traffickers of all kinds. The current urban renovation programme aims to inject social diversity by incorporating different types of housing (private and social housing as well as home ownership schemes).

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Dunkirk. Christian has been living in this insecure rented accommodation for over 25 years. He gets the minimum wage. Following a disagreement with his landlord, he stopped paying his monthly rent of EUR 650. He has been issued an eviction order to leave the property by 27 December. His only heating comes from a wood-burning stove.

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LISBON Loïc Delvaux turned his attention to the makeshift living environment in some of the shantytowns around Lisbon. He mainly worked in Fim do Mundo and Quinta da Serra, where there are shacks made of sheet metal and recycled material; one is located near the airport, the other in the suburbs. These shantytowns appeared at the end of the 1960s, when a mass of people poured out of the countryside, heading for the cities. Nowadays, very few Portuguese people still live in these places; most have been rehoused in public housing schemes. In their place are immigrants from former Portuguese colonies (Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and Guinea). It is worth noting that in Portugal, social housing represents 3.3 % of the national housing stock, and that municipalities are the main providers of social housing. There are various programmes targeting different categories of people in need of social housing:

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The ‘PER rehousing programme’ gives priority to people living in shanty towns in the major metropolitan urban areas.

‘Prohabita’ is meant for people whose income is lower than three annual minimum salaries, who do not own any dwelling in national territory and who are not the beneficiaries of any public financial support for housing purposes.

‘Porta 65 jovem’ helps young people to access rented housing.

‘Urban rehabilitation programmes’ are aimed at the rehabilitation of rented buildings/ dwellings which were affected by the long period of rental freezing and therefore have suffered severe degradation.

Finally, ‘NRAU’ (the new urban renting regime), establishes a housing rent allowance benefiting low-income households with rental contracts prior to 1990, in order to counteract the updating of frozen housing rents.

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Lisbon, Quinta da Serra, 2012. One of the last Portuguese families living in this shanty town.

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Lisbon, Quinta da Serra, 2012. An inhabitant is drying her washing in the sun. Most people living in this district are migrants coming from the former Portuguese colonies, with the exception of Roma and Indians. Living conditions in the area are deplorable.

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Lisbon, Quinta da Serra, 2008. Local residents are worried after the announcement of the arrival of the police and the representative of the town hall, who will proceed with the evacuation of the area and the immediate demolition of their homes. Most of them will not be relocated.

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Lisbon, airport area, 2012. There are only few inhabitants left in this desolate wasteland. Many of them are waiting to receive social housing, although no specific date has been given to them.

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Lisbon, airport area, 2012. A mother of four lives in this dilapidated shanty house, sharing the same bed with her children. After her eviction and the demolition of her home, the mother of these children rebuilt her home in the same place, with the help of residents.

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Lisbon, Quinta da Serra, 2007. Cape Verdean residents preparing their dinner.

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Lisbon, airport area, 2012. Two young Roma cousins in their home.

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Outskirts of Lisbon, Fim do Mundo district, 2007. On the ruins of a house, a young child is having fun throwing paper planes.

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Outskirts of Lisbon, Fim do Mundo district, 2007. Early in the morning, this resident is collecting her thoughts at the sight of her former neighbour’s house in ruins.

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Outskirts of Lisbon, Fim do Mundo district, 2008. The police are questioning a resident who is angry following the demolition of the shanty houses.

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Outskirts of Lisbon, Fim do Mundo district, 2008. Demolition of the shanty towns. For most residents, there is little or no prospect of relocation.

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MALMÖ Loïc DELVAULX visits Malmö, Sweden’s third biggest city with 300 000 inhabitants. With the help of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and putting environmental sustainability at the heart of their project, the municipality of Malmö managed to regenerate the city, and the port in particular, which had suffered the consequences of the sharp industrial decline in the 1990s. The photographer goes beyond the shiny façade of the two new eco-districts of Augustenborg and Western Harbour (3 500 inhabitants and 6 000 employees), initially subjects of an urban experiment and now showcasing sustainable regeneration. He discovers a two-tier society: the wealthier people having access to housing around the port, built with the highest environmental standards; and the others fighting for a place in a modest housing estate on the outskirts. Loïc Delvaulx walks the invisible line that still divides the city from west to east, bringing with him the inhabitants of different districts and the way they perceive their living space. In Sweden the concept of ‘social housing’ is not used. The corresponding sector is called ‘allmännyttig’, which literally means ‘public utility’ or ‘for the benefit of everybody’. This sector consists of rental dwellings owned by municipal housing companies, which are organised as joint-stock companies. They own and manage over 700 000 housing units and are represented at the national level by the Swedish Association of Public Housing Companies (SABO). Municipal housing companies have a general interest objective — to promote the housing supply in their municipality — but operate on business-like principles. Unlike in most European countries, public housing companies no longer have any special benefits or advantages compared to the private rental sector, and investments in public housing must be financed by the income from the rents. To avoid stigmatisation of public housing estates or residential areas, the sector is open to anybody (including — but not exclusively — the less advantaged), and access to public housing is not limited by income ceilings or the like.

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Malmö, Augustenborg district. In the 1970s, the government launched an ambitious housing programme known as the ‘Million programme’ with the aim of creating 1 million homes across Sweden. Various types of housing were built. Most of the people living in this pleasant neighbourhood are middle class. In 2005, a series of new initiatives was introduced to make the site sustainable and ecological, including green roofs, vegetable plots and ponds.

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Malmรถ, Rosengard district. Immigrants make up 95 % of the local population. Most have fled instability in their home countries. The crime rate is high. The neighbourhood has a bad reputation. Tenants come and go. Playgrounds have been built to strengthen community ties and give children and young people something to do.

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Malmรถ, Rosengard district. Many different cultures coexist in this neighbourhood, which has a large immigrant population.

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Malmรถ, Seved district. Known as a socially deprived area. Members of the Somali community tidy up the front of their community centre.

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Malmรถ, Western Harbour district. Maryan, originally from Denmark, moved here to live in this floating house, built in 2011. Although the harbour development project was intended to encourage greater social diversity, houses such as this often go only to the most affluent families.

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Malmรถ, Augustenborg district. Two childhood friends, who have lived in the neighbourhood all their lives, watch the development work underway. In 2005, a series of new initiatives was introduced to make the site sustainable and ecological, including green roofs, vegetable plots and ponds.

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Malmรถ, Augustenborg district. In 2005, a series of new initiatives was introduced to make the site sustainable and ecological, including green roofs, vegetable plots and ponds.

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Malmรถ, Augustenborg. Monika, a student, leaves the room she has been renting in a shared house for the last 2 years. Having put her name on a waiting list when she began her studies 2 years ago, she has only now been allocated a 30 m2 flat of her own, just outside Malmรถ.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A special thanks to Cecodhas Housing Europe, who provided us with all the information for the overview of housing policies in different Member States. Pages 131–186: All photographs © 2008–12 Loïc Delvaulx, all rights reserved. The photos of Europa Habitabilis were produced with the support of the S&D Group in the European Parliament.

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PES Group Secretariat A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union 2012 — 187 pp. — 14.8 × 21 cm ISBN 978-92-895-0569-7 doi:10.2863/45977

QG-30-12-443-EN-C

EUROPEAN UNION

Committee of the Regions

A EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR SOCIAL HOUSING

EUROPEAN UNION

Committee of the Regions