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SOCIAL RENTAL AGENCIES AS A TOOL TO OVERCOME PROBLEMS WITH PRIVATE RENTING IN FLANDERS, BELGIUM

SOCIAL RENTAL AGENCIES AS A TOOL TO OVERCOME PROBLEMS WITH PRIVATE RENTING IN FLANDERS, BELGIUM. Pascal De Decker pascal.de.Decker@skynet.be Faculty of Architecture, Catholic University of Leuven

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SOCIAL RENTAL AGENCIES AS A TOOL TO OVERCOME PROBLEMS WITH PRIVATE RENTING IN FLANDERS, BELGIUM

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  1. SOCIAL RENTAL AGENCIES AS A TOOL TO OVERCOME PROBLEMS WITH PRIVATE RENTING IN FLANDERS, BELGIUM Pascal De Decker pascal.de.Decker@skynet.be Faculty of Architecture, Catholic University of Leuven Conference “Emerging Private Rental Sector in Accession and Transition Countries: Is there an Option for Social Rental Agencies?”, Budapest, Hungary, 12-14 September.

  2. Content • The Be housing market (structure, data) • SRAs • What • Roots • State of th art • Social support • Pitfalls

  3. Housing in BE: Major features • home-ownership market following a longstanding policy topromotehomeownership • marginal (and more and more residual ) socialrental market (discours vs. reality) (hugewaitinglists) • fairlyunregulatedprivate rental market • TINA: only ‘stablehousing sector’=home-ownership • private rentingis a dual/polarised market: upmarket + no choice market (spatiallysegregated)

  4. Some dataStructure of the Flemishhousing market

  5. Some dataAffordability

  6. What is a SRA? • SRA’s are • non-profit or localauthorityorganisations • dealingwithhousingproblems of poor & vulnerablepeople • rooted in services dealingwith the homeless persons • more ad more: organisedbylocalsocial services and recently (Ghent)bya localgovernment • Rent from private landlords and sublettotenants • securing the payment of the rent (event in periods of vacancy) • securinghousingquality • offer anaffordablerent to the subtenant • organisingsupport ifnecessary • ‘trytosocialize’ the private rented sector – withdrawrentingfrom free market mechanisms

  7. Overview of the partnership between an SRA and Landlord Source: Adapted from OCMW Gent Presentation, 2012 HABITACT Peer Review

  8. Overview of the relationship an SRA and its tenants Source: Adapted from OCMW Gent Presentation, 2012 HABITACT Peer Review

  9. Goals Enlargethe number of availabledwellingsforvulnerablepeople Improve the quality of the accommodation at the bottom end of the housing market Use a socially correct rent

  10. Regulation Belgium=federal state, with ‘split responsibilties’ Changes underway(allhousingresponsibilitieswillbetransfered TO THE REGIONS) Private renting=federal matter rents of new contractsare free length of the lease is regulated (limitednumber of short terms; legal lease=9 y) somesubsidies whenlettingtoan SRA (tax exempationsforenerysavinginvesments) SRA=matter of the regions(Flanders, Brussels, Wallonia) subsidies forstaff & working rent allowance (undercertainconditions: incomeceiling; limited in time) renovationsubsidies

  11. History – context - roots Housing activism(1960-1970s) General: legaladvise shops  tenant’sassociation(London model) Labour migrant discrimination  SRA avant la lettre Woonfonds Gent, Antwerp & Brusselsat the end of the 1970s Housing ‘crisis’ (end 1970, early 1980s) Economic crisis  drop new house construction (private & social) squeezedmarket  policy reaction = more market = freeingof private renting in times of crisis New housingtimes (demographics)  morehousesneeded Filtering up  filtering down: rentingbecomes more & more unaffordable (queeingforadvertisers) De-institutionalisation(1960s) Welfare Work: experienceincreasinghousingproblems of itsclients De-institutionalisation (elimination of the ‘totalinstitutions’/ideology of the small scale)  need ‘housing’ for the services itself

  12. Homeless service sector in general • Growth of services after 1975 • Dueto the de-institutionalisationideology • Professionalisation • passing throughphilosophy – client has tobecome independent as soon as possible(now: theoryvsreality: lots of failures) • small scaleideology  needforordinaryhouses • idea of emancipation

  13. Consequence Welfare work ‘invades’ the housing market SRA’s Tenant’sassociations

  14. Devepment of the SRA model 1985: the umbrellaorganisations of homelessorganisations (VDVO) presents the SRA model 1993: foundation of the umbrellaorganisation of ‘new housinginitiatives’ (VOB) 1993: 9 SRAs & VOB get subsidies as ‘experiments’  VOB has todevelop a ‘workable’ model 1997: integration of ‘rent services’ in the Flemishhousinglaw= SRAsbecome a housinginstitution Sincethen: different regulationsaiming at making SRA’sstronger/bigger 2007: assessmentthrough the eyes of the landlords

  15. State of affairs (Flanders) Number of recognisedSRAs *decreases/willdecrease/mergers

  16. State of affairs Number of dwellings Average number of dwellings per SRA rose from 54.8 in 1999, over 77 in 2006 to 96.3 in 2009 – largest: +500 dwellings

  17. State of affairs Work/income situation new tenants, 2009, % unemployed 17.6 subsistence income 34.3 part-time job 0.7 disability/illness 10 in work 19.4 pension 3.2 other 5 no info 9.3

  18. State of affairs 33% were homeless at the moment of allocation Homeless= living in a caravan, uninhabitable dwelling, living on the street, living in a service for homeless persons

  19. Allocation Flemish regulation for all social rental dwellings, but differentiated, so SRAs can and do use a point system in order to fit with housing need (e.g. living on the street=higher score than someone living in an institution) local authorities can develop a local allocation system that refines the Flemish one, but they hardly do (certainly not in favor of vulnerable; avoid the risk; and if: prefer elderly) there was the possibility to work besides this regulation in order to house very difficult ‘to house’ persons in a co-operation with welfare work

  20. Social basis ‘seems’ solid political support in policy notes of political parties & policy notes of ministers and aldermen support from the representatives of landlords high satisfaction on landlords working with SRAs But: difficult to enter the ‘crowded’ housing field that is confronted with huge waiting lists

  21. Pitfalls • Context of scarcity caseload is huge pressure on the staff (proportionally the waing list are muchlongerthanforsocialrenting) • Debates • SRA-non-profit-private-style vs. SRA embedded in localsocial service • SRA as housing providers vs. SRA as welfare institution • ifacting as w.i.  risk of arrears • keep up housingquality is risk • Scale: too small? (managing staff; dealingwith subsidies)

  22. Further reading • De Decker, P. (2002): On the rise of social rental agencies in Belgium, in: Urban Studies, vol. 39, nr. 2, p. 297-326. • De Decker, P. (2009): Social rentalagencies : still a splendididea?, in: European Journal of Homelessness, vol 3, December, p. 217-232. • Feantsa Office (2012): Social rental agencies: an innovative housing-led response to homelessness, Feantsa, Brussels.

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