Policies to Decommodify and Revive the Right to Housing

Italy faces significant challenges in ensuring the right to housing, as evidenced by its deeply entrenched housing culture that prioritizes home ownership. This policy brief examines the structural issues underlying Italy’s housing crisis and proposes innovative policies aimed at decommodifying housing and reviving the right to housing for all citizens. The document underscores the urgent need for comprehensive policy reform to address exclusionary dynamics and the commodification of housing. ### Context and Current Challenges In Italy, housing policies have historically favored home ownership, contributing to a dual and polarized housing system. This system has led to a stark separation between private and public housing supplies, with public housing becoming increasingly marginal. This polarization has resulted in two contrasting scenarios: highly marginal territories characterized by depopulation and loss of property values, and densely populated urban areas experiencing rising property values and increased risk of exclusion from housing. Moreover, Italy’s public expenditure on housing is notably low, currently under 0.1% of GDP compared to the European average of 0.4%. This insufficient investment has led to a lack of affordable housing, particularly in attractive cities such as Milan, Florence, and Rome, which draw new populations but face severe housing shortages. Main Policy Proposals The policy brief proposes a multifaceted approach to address these issues, focusing on increasing public investment, redefining social housing, enhancing inclusivity, and strengthening preventive measures. The key proposals are:1. Increasing Public Investment - **Restore and Increase Public Expenditure**: Rebuild a nationwide housing fund by allocating a constant share of GDP to housing, aiming to match the European average of 0.4%. This would involve significant political intentionality to ensure sustained funding. 2. Redefining Social Housing - **Reform Social Housing Regulations**: Stringently define social housing to emphasize social rental properties and exclude for-sale properties. This aims to overcome the broad and undifferentiated concept of ‘social’ housing currently prevalent in Italy’s policies. 3. Enhancing Inclusivity - **Support for Marginalized Groups**: Revise access criteria for public social housing to eliminate discriminatory practices such as residence time requirements. Additionally, invest in public intermediaries like Social Rental Agencies to facilitate the inclusion of marginalized profiles in the housing market. 4. Strengthening Preventive Measures - **Preventive Housing Arrangements**: Establish a non-compliance arrears fund shared by various government levels, linked to the need indicated by eviction requests and housing hardship indicators. This would include incentives for households to effectively manage housing-related expenses. Additional Policy Directions The policy brief also highlights the need for a more progressive and transparent approach to managing real estate and land assets, both public and private, to support the production of affordable housing. It emphasizes breaking down the false dichotomy between ecological transition and affordable housing. Institutional Reorganization - **Reorganize Municipal Housing Divisions**: Innovate internal municipal structures to better address housing issues. This includes creating new councils and institutes dedicated to housing policies and renovation, drawing inspiration from successful models in cities like Barcelona. To decommodify housing and revive the right to housing in Italy, the policy brief stresses the importance of a comprehensive, multi-level policy framework that includes increased public investment, stricter definitions and regulations, and enhanced inclusivity and preventive measures. By implementing these proposals, Italy can move towards a more equitable and accessible housing system, ensuring that housing is recognized and treated as a fundamental right for all its citizens.