Four concrete proposals to facilitate access to housing
3' min read
3' min read
There is always a lively debate in the media on the issue of access to housing, with particular reference to rented housing, and on the best tools to guarantee such access on an extensive basis, coming to the aid of those who are currently struggling the most (see, most recently, 'Il Sole 24 Ore' of 28 July, p. 6).
Without prejudice to the widely shared realisation that a large part of the problem lies in a level of income that for large sections of the population no longer keeps pace with the cost of living, a few proposals can be made to address the issue in order to improve the situation and resolve certain critical issues.
1. Strengthening agreed rental leases
After the unsuccessful - and illiberal - experience of fair rent in the early 1990s, followed by a transitional period of application of the so-called 'patti in deroga', since 1998 residential leases have been regulated by legislation that combines free bargaining with a 'facilitated' (or 'agreed') channel whereby the landlord and tenant set rents within minimum and maximum limits established by agreements stipulated at municipal level by landlord and tenant organisations.
It is necessary to strengthen this form of fixed rent, appreciated by both contractual parties, by encouraging its spread by increasing the tax incentives provided for its use. There could be two measures to be implemented in this direction, with potentially visible effects in a very short time: a) the application in all municipalities of the 10% flat-rate tax, also to reduce the housing pressure in the largest centres, to the advantage of their neighbouring centres; b) a greater reduction of the municipal property tax (Imu) to be borne by the State, currently set at 25%. The rest should be done by the municipalities, setting reduced rates, again in the case of the use of 'agreed' contracts, of the local property tax.
