Social housing in Athens – The proposal of the municipality
1.6% of the population lives in social housing complexes in the metropolitan area of Athens, it is lower compared to other metropolises of the Union. Photo ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
After two decades of inactivity, the debate on social housing is reopening in our country. After the municipalities of metropolitan Thessaloniki, which presented a joint plan months ago and the recent legislative initiatives of the Ministry of Labor, the Municipality of Athens yesterday submitted its own proposal. It is essentially a subsidized housing mechanism, which will operate in the standard of the “Home” program and with the first “tank” the houses that are already included in it.
The proposal was presented by the mayor Costas Bakogiannis to the Minister of Labor Kostis Hatzidakis. According to information, the main points of the proposal are mentioned:
• The program managed by EATA SA, a legal entity of the Municipality of Athens that currently creates the housing program for asylum seekers (“Estia”). Within the framework of the program, EATA SA has managed to date about 400 apartments, offering 8,000 accommodations.
• The structure of the program considered by the “Home” program. That is, criteria will be set for the potential beneficiaries.
• The program will have four target groups. Unemployed young people (30% of places), young families with low income (30%), elderly people with low income (25%) and students who can not be admitted to dormitories (15% of places).
It will be based on the experience of the municipality from the housing and support program for asylum seekers “Estia”.
The criteria include four main categories related to housing status, income picture, unemployment and specific characteristics of the beneficiaries. In terms of housing status, it could be households that are being evicted or at high risk of eviction, households that are living in a “non-formal housing” (eg illegally housed, subletted), households that are temporarily housed by need, households living in unfavorable conditions (eg basement, without heating, with humidity, external bathroom, leaks, etc.) or persons in unsafe residence in the family home.
Income, they must be beneficiaries of the guaranteed minimum income, or long-term unemployed or members of special social groups of OAED. Social criteria can also be set, such as young people in the process of deinstitutionalization, single parent families, people with disabilities with a high degree of disability, recently released from prison or addicts, Roma, victims of trafficking, LGBTQI, beneficiaries of international protection, etc. It is characteristic that the homeless supported by the various structures of the Municipality of Athens are currently estimated at 4,000.
Beneficiaries of the program will receive in addition to housing and support services, which could include from support in finding work (indicatively for the unemployed) to support in the proper functioning of the home.
According to the proposal of the Municipality of Athens, the program that could be financed from two sources: from the operational program “Human Resources and Social Cohesion 2021-2027” and from the Attica Regional Development Plan, in actions for people who are in a joke or at risk of homelessness .
The municipality now has the experience of the “Estia” program. In other words, a culture has been formed among the homeowners for the programs of the program “, explains Alexandros Tsiatsiamis, general secretary of the municipality. “Given that the number of asylum seekers is currently declining, part of this stock could be immediately available. “This model, funded by European resources, is an ‘immediate treatment’ solution on an existing model.”
As for the applications of the program, they will be clarified in the next period, depending on the type of grant. According to Mr. Tsiatsiamis, “the program that covers all or a large part of the rent for a period of up to 5 years. Its goal, of course, will be to create the conditions for the beneficiaries to stand on their own two feet and gain financial autonomy sooner. “We may be able to give a subsidy to homeowners who are in poor condition to be repaired, with the obligation to join the program for some years.”
Absence of housing policy
Only 1.6% of the population, according to the data of the Municipality of Athens, lives in social housing complexes in the metropolitan area of Athens. The percentage is extremely low compared to other metropolises of the Union (indicatively, Brussels 7.4%, 15.2% Stockholm, 19% Helsinki). These are the people who live in the 19,299 houses that were built from the interwar period until 2004 by three bodies (Ministry of Welfare, Workers’ Housing Organization and DEPOS) in the metropolitan area of Athens. These are regarding the construction of houses for vulnerable groups of the population. In terms of social rental, Greece is the only European country in which the sector is completely absent, due to a lack of housing policy. In our country there are only housing assistance programs, ie rent subsidy for households with specific characteristics (eg homeless, uninsured seniors). However, the housing problem no longer concerns only the vulnerable social groups: despite the very high percentage of home ownership in our country (it reaches 75%), the housing insecurity remains very high. According to EU research SILC 2020, 32.6% of households and 82.5% of poor households spend more than 40% of their income on housing expenses.