The Emilia-Romagna region is launching a 300 million housing scheme
The aim is to renovate up to 5,000 social housing units over five years, using European and regional funds and a 200 million EIB loan. The first homes will be allocated to families by the end of the year
Key points
Everything is ready in Emilia-Romagna for the operational launch of the regional housing plan, which aims to mobilise 300 million euros over five years with the aim of providing citizens with 5,000 social housing units, comprising both refurbished properties and new builds. “We expect to start work and spend the first funds in September, following the signing of the agreement ratifying the deal with the local councils,” explains Giovanni Paglia, the regional councillor for housing policy, “so that we can allocate the first refurbished homes between the end of the year and early January.” The plan is funded by 50 million from the region and a further 50 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which was reallocated in recent months. “Thanks to European and regional resources,” explains Davide Baruffi, Councillor for the Budget and European Fund Planning, “we have been able to secure a 30-year loan from the European Investment Bank, with a credit limit of 200 million”.
“We expect to start drawing down on the EIB loan in January, by which time we will already have positive cash flow from the rental income, which will enable us to fund the loan repayments. As and when the local authorities make the properties available for renovation or regeneration, the plan will move forward,” explains Paglia.
How the Emilia-Romagna housing scheme works
In recent months, the region has asked local authorities to express their interest in funding works on: 1) social housing (known as ERP) where the renovation costs exceed 25,000 euros; 2) Erp properties requiring energy efficiency upgrades; 3) any areas to be regenerated or buildings to be redeveloped (such as former offices or disused old schools, for example).
The region pays for the renovation work and, in return, the local authorities transfer the rental income to the region for 30 years.
Social housing (ERP) will become ‘ERS’ – social residential housing – intended for the increasingly large so-called ‘grey zone’, that is, families whose income is too high to qualify for social housing but too low to afford market-rate rent. The scheme is aimed at households with an ISEE of between 8,000 and 35,000 euros. “We have already gathered all the information,” explains the councillor. “The cities from which we have received the most applications are Reggio Emilia and Ferrara, with more than 200 each.”
