Legacoop, 5 billion plan for 20 thousand council houses in 10 years

To build, in Italy, in ten years, 20 thousand dwellings (40 per cent of the requirement) at a subsidised rent of about 70/80 square metres each, plus the necessary outdoor spaces, for an intervention that is close to 5 billion euro with a total debt of 3.4 billion euro and a direct and indirect public contribution of about 1.5 billion euro (600 million euro with direct financial share and 896 million euro with areas, charges and design). A financial structure based on a public (34 per cent) and private (66 per cent) partnership.
This, in brief, is the "Italian proposal" presented this morning by Legacoop Abitanti at the European Summit on Responsible Housing Financing held in Milan, organised by Housing Europe, the European Federation of Public, Cooperative and Social Housing (with which Legacoop Abitanti is associated).

"The national need is estimated at 50 thousand dwellings. Our vision,' says Rossana Zaccaria, president of Legacoop Abitanti, 'is of a long-term social housing plan to build 40% of it, i.e. 20,000 units, destined for metropolitan cities, those with more than 50,000 inhabitants and capitals with high housing needs, to be financed through a platform capable of aggregating public and private, national and European resources, and which, on the recommendation of the regions, would allow public and private operators, such as cooperatives, to build housing at sustainable rents, also using public property.

The result of the social housing programmes based on the aggregator platform will be rents of between EUR 60 and 75 per square metre per year for a 70 square metre monthly rental of between EUR 350 and 450 per month.

"In detail," explained Fabio Bastianelli, president of Finabita, "the cost of areas is estimated at 400 million (equal to 250 euros per square metre of useful surface area), urbanisation costs at 90 million (50 euros per square metre), and design costs (at 10% of final construction costs) at 406 million. For actual construction, 1750 euro per square metre (useful surface area + 45% of net residential surface area) brings the total to 4 billion. That becomes almost 5 billion (precisely 4.9) with VAT. The proposed financial structure envisages, therefore, a total of public financing (including areas, urbanisation and planning) of 1.49 billion, private equity (between co-operatives and companies) of 491 million and debt from aggregate sources (EIB, European Investment Bank; Ceb, Council of Europe Development Bank) of 3.3 billion. This would allow a rent per dwelling between 60 and 75 euros per square metre per year, a monthly rent for a 70 square metre dwelling between 350 and 450 euros per month and, finally, for a share of the dwellings, a 'rent to buy', i.e. a sale price after 20 years of renting, at 2,200 euros per square metre. With an expected interest rate of 3 per cent, the net value of the assets is expected to be between 300 and 400 million and the rate of return (Irr) between 4 and 5 per cent.

A model that looks to France. In 2020, the Caisses des Dépôts, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (Ceb), together with the Union Sociale pour l'Habitat (Ush), launched the European Alliance for Sustainable and Inclusive Social Housing partnership in France. The initiative aims to facilitate fair and equitable access to European funding by supporting French operators' investment projects in social housing. Since its creation, the Alliance has mobilised EUR 3 billion to finance sustainable, social and accessible housing. Although European Housing is working on an analysis and benchmarking grid of all the experiences put in place (not only in France, but also in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Nordic countries) to enable the different countries that still lack an established operational model to adapt the best standards to their own peculiarities.