1 Social Housing in Europe: from government to Governance Paper presented to Housing Sociale: Esperienze europee a confronto per un modello lombardo convegno INTERNAZIONALE MILANO, 5 th of March, 2009 by Dr Michelle Norris School of Applied Social Science University College Dublin Ireland

2 Foundation: Social housing = Rented + Subsidised + Non market allocation Around the start of the 20 th Century Social democracy PhilanthropyPublic health concerns Particularly in cities

3 Dominant Ownership structure Direct (local) government Arms length local government Independent non profit Independent for profit UK Ireland State socialist central and eastern Europe Luxembourg Belgium France Sweden Denmark Netherlands (west) Germany Spain

4 Developments post 1945 Public capital subsidies supply growth

5 Developments post 1980s/1990s Supply decline or stagnation, but not everywhere!

6 Policy Changes Post 1980s/1990s  Reduction in public capital subsidies across Europe falling new building  Partially replaced by housing allowances and private sector funding in the West  Privatisation:  In the West: UK, Netherlands  In most of the post-socialist East – but pace varies  Rolling back of direct government supply of social housing  More non profit sector and arms length provision, tenant management – UK, Ireland  More private sector provision – across Europe  More emphasis on social ownership.

7 Drivers of these developments  In the West:  Sector redefined as the cause of housing problems, not solution.  Anti-government ideologies  Housing supply and standards problems resolved  Increasing availability of credit for low income households  In the post-socialist East  Influence of UN, World Bank  Home ownership would promote social stability during a period of rapid social and economic change.

8 Challenges Arising Today: 1.Residualisation – concentration of low-income and ethnic minority households in social housing.  Management challenges  Ethnically diverse client group  Socialisation of the management task – eg. dealing with anti-social behaviour  Negative impact of ‘poverty neighbourhoods’  Neighbourhood diversification strategies  Social cohesion strategies  Finance challenges  Higher income tenants can create opportunities for cross subsidy

9 Challenges Arising Today: 2.Funding:  Housing allowances are problematic:  ‘uncontrollable’  Create poverty traps  Challenges in raising private sector funding:  Credit crunch – limits use of public private partnerships  Requires government support – guarantee, intermediary lending etc  Requires asset base.  Insufficient to fund extensive new output.  Challenges associated with State funding – lack of money, EU competition rules.  Particular finance problems in post-socialist countries  EU Structural funds have been made for available for housing refurbishment.

10 Challenges Arising Today: 3.Governance:  How does government influence social landlords without owning or directly funding them?  The social rented stock a valuable asset – can the State access this capital?  Social landlords own large parts of some cities – should they carry out other social activities, such as urban renewal?  How to ensure that local priorities are met?

11 Challenges Arising Today: 4.Supply:  Growing demand for subsidised housing:  In cities  Among middle income households  Due to the credit crunch  How does government increase supply, while:  Minimising direct public funding  Observing EU competition rules?