Transcript TENLaw Bremen Team

A Comparative Look at Access to
Housing with a Public Task
in
Austria (AT), Switzerland (CH), Germany
(DE), Luxembourg (LU) & Japan (JP)
presented by the Bremen TENLaw Team
Tarragona, Spain
Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Aims of Social Housing Policy

AT - to achieve affordable housing for the majority of the population, not for only
some disadvantaged groups

CH - subsidiarity principle and state intervention is limited to fields with deficit,
conflict or abuse

DE - focused on providing affordable housing only for those households that
cannot secure adequate accommodation and need support

LU - directed at individuals and households whose demand for affordable
housing of decent quality is not met by the private market, but is allocated only to
households that meet certain conditions, not to all households in general

JP - residual area in housing policy; government housing safety net is available
only for those who cannot afford a dwelling on their own
1 of 10
Dwellings (main residences) by legal basis
(% of housing stock)
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
Others
50%
Property
40%
Tenancy
30%
20%
10%
0%
CH
DE
AT
JP
LU
2 of 10
Tenancies with / without a public task
(% of tenancies)
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
without a public task
50%
with a public task
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
AT
DE
JP
CH
LU
3 of 10
Both object-related and subject-related subsidies are
employed in all of the countries,
but the provider of object-related subsidies varies . . .
Country:
Provider(s) of object-related measures
AT
state, limited-profit housing associations
CH
non-profit housing organizations
DE
all (state, cooperatives, commercial & private
landlords)
LU
public developers
JP
state
Provider of subject-related
measures
state
4 of 10
... and whether object-related or subject-related subsidies
are emphasized also varies.
Country:
AT
Object-related
♦
♦
CH
♦
DE
LU
JP
Subject-related
♦
♦
5 of 10
Comparison of access criteria under object-related subsidies
Common criteria
-minimum age
Divergent criteria
-restriction on cohabitants (AT, DE, JP)
-citizenship/residency status
-certificate (DE)/affidavit (AT) required
-maximum income (CH*)
-no ownership of another dwelling (AT,
LU, JP)
-no usufruct of another dwelling (LU)
-change of financial status has
consequence on tenancy (CH*, JP)
6 of 10
Access from the perspective of allocation method:
access to the system or access to a particular dwelling?
Country:
AT
Access to system
♦
♦
CH
DE
LU
JP
Access to dwelling
♦
♦
♦
♦
7 of 10
Different approaches to subject-related subsidies
Country
Welfare benefits
AT
•
CH
•
DE
•
LU
JP
Housing benefits
Interaction
•
Yes
•
No
•
•
8 of 10
Comparison of access criteria under subject-related subsidies
Common criteria
-minimum age
Divergent criteria
-no special support obligors (CH, DE,
JP)
-maximum income
-must act toward financial autonomy
o Concerning welfare benefits:
required
o Concerning housing
assistance: not required
-no other assets (car, bank accounts,
life insurance, etc.) (JP)
-no debts (JP)
-no ownership or usufruct of another
dwelling (LU)
9 of 10
Problems with Access Criteria

Systemic problems
 (AT) complicated and partly incomprehensible system results in the absence of
uniform access criteria,
 due largely to division of competences between federal and state governments

Overly permissive criteria
 (DE, LU) increase in income resulting in households occupying dwellings in
housing with a public task who no longer qualify
 (DE) 1 in 2 public task dwellings occupied by non-qualifying households; intended to
contribute to social mix

Overly strict criteria
 (JP) access criteria made notably stricter due to severe supply shortage
 (CH) cooperatives’ waiting lists for new members
 (LU) barrier for homeless persons’ access to housing with a public task
10 of 10
The Bremen TENLaw Team are
Christoph Schmid
Marta dos Santos Silva
[email protected]
[email protected]
Team Leader
Reporter for Luxembourg
Raimund Hofmann
Anna Wehrmüller
[email protected]
[email protected]
Reporter for Austria
Reporter for Switzerland
Tsubasa Wakabayashi
Julia Cornelius, [email protected]
Joanna Rzeznik, [email protected]
Tobias Pinkel, [email protected]
[email protected]
Reporter for Japan
Reporters for Germany
Jason Dinse
[email protected]
Management Assistant