Interview with the President of Housing Europe, Bent Madsen
12.05.2021This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Estonian Union of Co-operative Housing Associations. We are delighted to share with your some thoughts from Bent Madsen, the President of Housing Europe, on the key challenges on housing and progress made to ensure more affordability.
What are the key challenges on housing in Europe now and how to reach those goals?
While housing might often seem quite diverse across Europe, I can safely say that the sector is confronted with three major challenges – growing need for housing affordability, keeping the balance between social and green transition, as well as completing a new mission to deliver homes that offer much more than security and a roof.
Housing Europe’s recently-launched report, ‘State of housing in Europe 2021’ has left no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic will have a long-lasting shock on the economy, hitting households with low- to middle incomes the hardest. The first numbers already indicate that one out of four tenants in Czechia in 2020 fear that they will have to leave their current home in the next 12 months. In Italy, the share of tenant households with arrears on rent payment in the private rental sector has jumped from less than 10 to 24% since the start of the pandemic. This comes on top of previously reported unmet housing needs. A few years back, the same publication already drew attention to Eurostat figures that report for nearly 10% of the EU population experiencing housing cost overburden and long waiting lists for social housing. At the same time, the ongoing global health pandemic has dropped the rate of construction of social housing in France from 100,000 to 80,000 units.
Having said that, we see progress being made to ensure more affordability. In January, the own-initiative report ‘Decent and Affordable Housing for All’ of MEP Kim van Sparrentak from the Greens was backed by the European Parliament, calling for increasing Europe affordable housing stock. The EU Stability and Growth Pact has been put on hold, allowing EU Member States to use debt to invest in both emergency measures and recovery plans. The EU has also made monetary policies more accommodating to face the pandemic. What our communities need is a sustained trend in long-term investment in social or affordable housing. An example of this is Housing Europe’s member in France which has established a key partnership with the Social Union for Housing (USH), the Banque des Territoires (Caisse des Dépôts group), the European Investment Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank that has laid down a foundation for social housing organisations in France to access European funding for long-term investments in affordable homes. Hopefully, we will see other European governments following the example, as more social, cooperative, public means that more people are shielded from unexpected economic and social shocks.
The work on the EU Renovation Wave, the EU Affordable Housing Initiative and New European Bauhaus is another opportunity to go through a real social green transition. To do this successfully, we will have to align our policies and finances. The new EU Green Deal must ensure a social green transition and Housing Europe calls for the set-up of a new high-level stakeholder group on post-COVID affordable housing for better finance, better knowledge and better regulation. We hope to see Estonia proudly represented.
Finally, we clearly see a new mission for social and affordable housing providers. They go the extra mile to ensure that residents or tenants can work from home, age in dignity, receive health or mental support, are offered administrative advice, that the sense of belonging to a community persist even in times of social isolation. Our neighbourhoods are opportunity and productivity hubs for learning, commerce and culture, they should be accessible to all.
How has housing in Europe changed in 25 Years?
Public, cooperative and social housing has evolved tremendously. It is enough to have a quick look at the best practices on Housing Europe’s Housing Evolutions Hub to see tens of innovative sustainable or technological solutions that leave no one behind. It is truly motivational to see how my own country, Denmark and colleagues across Europe are envisioning future-proofed neighbourhoods which can cater for the elderly, youth, integration of services, sharing or circular economy.
At the same time, while housing markets have recovered from the Global Financial Crisis in 2009, average house prices in the EU’s private sector have increased by over 30% in the past decade and rents have gone up by almost 15%. The growing financialisation of the sector, turning housing into a commodity instead of a fundamental right is a worrying trend. It is a phenomenon that all governments should aim at minimising. As mentioned, unbearable housing costs coupled with growing unemployment rates due to COVID-19 will result in higher demand for social and affordable housing according to the OECD. Council housing waiting lists in England already count 1.1 million households and risk to nearly double to 2 million households in a year from now. Also, homelessness levels have been increasing, reaching 700,000 people who sleep rough in Europe every night.
There are two ways to approach the future, either react to the various developments or try to shape it proactively. Housing Europe is determined to capitalise on strong alliances that will help us to shape the next generation neighbourhoods.
How is Estonia, our local apartment associations and EKYL looking at European level?
Estonia has often been given as an example for the eastern part of Europe and we see several very encouraging developments. The sector has managed to weather the COVID-19 storm to a reasonable degree. A full renovation of buildings built before the year 2000 by 2050 is expected to improve the living conditions of 80% of the population. Figures from Eurostat show that since 2004, the percentage of low-income households living in sub-standard dwellings has been declining steadily from close to 40% in 2004 to around half of that rate in recent years, also thanks to the sector. EKYL has started working on a major EU-funded project, POWERPOOR that aims at building a pathway out of energy poverty. All of these improvements are framing the country in a positive way.
In the near future, the great nature of EKYL in managing ‘cooperative’-style apartments in Estonia that helps residents to take collective actions on renovations and building management will be essential. Taking decisions as a community and having trust in the renovation process will be decisive for the implementation of the EU Renovation Wave, the Affordable Housing Initiative and the New European Bauhaus. I believe that EKYL can lead the way and ride the Wave.