Off the street and into a home: over 1,000 homeless in Austria get a flat

Publicerad denFörfattareHarry Markham

An initiative by the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs, non-profit building associations and the Federal Working Group for Assistance to the Homeless aims to get around 1,000 homeless people into housing by September 2024. To achieve this, Austria is adopting the successful “Housing First” concept. The basic idea is simple, homeless people are given their own home – with no strings attached. It has been found that the housing first method helps 80% of homeless people involved find their way back into society.
Austria is one of the ten richest countries in the EU and yet over 20,000 people have no home. They are homeless and living on the streets. Day in, day out, they struggle to survive, especially when winter hits. In order to help these people in the long term, Austria is now switching to the successful “Housing First” model. Experts have been calling for this for a long time. Finland, for example, has drastically reduced homelessness over the last ten years with this model.
AFFORDABLE RENTAL FLATS FOR OVER 1,000 HOMELESS PEOPLE
With the “Housing First Austria – arriving at home” initiative, the Ministry of Social Affairs wants to offer over 1,000 homeless people a new home in the long term. Instead of emergency accommodation or temporary solutions, they are to be given their own flat with a tenancy agreement.
By September 2024, 512 affordable flats are to be provided by non-profit building associations for this purpose. The project is being managed by the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Wohnungslosenhilfe (BAWO).
The costs for financial support, relocation and deposits are to be subsidised by the Ministry of Social Affairs with a contribution of around 6.6 million euros. The formerly homeless people pay the rent and ancillary costs themselves.
Social workers will accompany and support those affected as required. They will help with personal crises, financial matters and coping with everyday life.
“HOUSING FIRST APPROACH”: FIRST YOUR OWN FLAT, THEN EVERYTHING ELSE
The “housing first approach” is quite simple. Homeless people are first given their own flat – with no strings attached. This means that they do not have to complete any addiction programmes, use any therapeutic services or have a job. All of that can wait.
[embedded content]
The approach is based on the assumption that people first need security and a place to feel safe. Only then will they gradually find their way back into life and society. This seems to be the case, as international examples such as Finland, Denver and Houston show. Studies show that 80% of formerly homeless people find their way back into a stable life through this method.
The concept is actually nothing new. It has been used by several organisations for years. These include Caritas Vienna, the Neunerhaus homeless aid organisation and various women’s shelters. Experts have long been calling for the government to facilitate the approach with the required level of financial backing.
THE HOUSING FIRST CONCEPT IS CHEAPER THAN HOMELESSNESS
Giving homeless people a new home is not only more humane, but also cheaper. This is because where people are in need, emergencies happen more often. Injuries, breakdowns, assaults and rescue operations. This not only places demand on the police, health and justice systems, but also costs money.
For the state, the “housing first” concept is more favourable than ignoring the problem of homelessness.
HOMELESSNESS IN AUSTRIA
Around 20,000 people in Austria have no home. The number of unreported cases is estimated to be much higher. This is because the system only registers those who seek help and are registered. The majority of them, almost 60 per cent, live in Vienna. Vienna’s homelessness organisation assumes that almost 4,000 of them are under the age of 30.
There are many reasons for homelessness, such as unpredictable misfortunes, accidents, addictions or mental health problems, to name just the most dramatic. But homelessness can be easy to fall foul of:
“It doesn’t take a stroke of fate to become homeless. Transitional phases are often enough: A young person who has to leave their parents’ home. A separation. An expiring tenancy agreement. Anyone who has no access to affordable housing in such situations runs the risk of becoming homeless,” explains Elizabeth Hammer, Chairwoman of BAWO.
Critics of homelessness assistance often blame the individual for their own homelessness. But that would be too simplistic. After all, high inflation, rising rents and the lack of affordable housing also contribute to people ending up on the streets. Some people can simply no longer afford to live. Läs mer…

Portugal caps rents, gives away vacant flats & suspends VAT on basic foodstuffs

Publicerad denFörfattareneuezeit.at

Inflation is driving more and more unexpecting people into poverty. The Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the Greens nevertheless refuse to take action against the skyrocketing prices. The Portuguese government shows that there is another way: it already capped rents last year. Recently, Portugal has started renting out vacant flats and suspended VAT on 44 basic foodstuffs.
Between 2017 and 2022, rents in Portugal increased by 42 percent. The country is one of the poorest in Western Europe. Although the government only raised it in December, the minimum wage is just 760 euros a month. More than half of workers earn less than 1000 euros per month.
The government of the socialist Prime Minister António Costa has therefore limited rent increases. Landlords can increase them by a maximum of two percent. Costa’s next step is to put about 730,000 vacant flats on the market. If a flat remains unoccupied for more than two years, Portugal will have it forcibly rented out.
Putting vacant flats on the market
Owners of vacant flats receive a rental offer from the municipality, to which they must respond within ten days. If they do not accept the offer, they have another 90 days to rent out the flat or use it themselves. If the owners continue to do nothing, “municipalities proceed with the compulsory leasing”, according to the planned law. In this case, the municipality manages the flat and, if necessary, carries out renovation work to make it habitable. They then put the flats on the market for five years at low rents. According to the government, rents may not exceed 35 per cent of the family income. The income – minus the renovation costs – is paid out to the owners. There is an exception for properties that registered as tourist enterprises or local accommodation establishments. Flats that are currently being worked on or are about to be sold are also excluded.
Austria: ÖVP & Greens fueling inflation instead of relieving the burden on tenants
In Austria, the situation is different. Here, too, the government discussed a rent brake at the end of February. In the end, however, the ÖVP and the Greens opted for a housing cost subsidy. While 250 million euros will be paid out as a one-time payment, the increased rents remain the same or rise further in the future. Moreover, the housing cost subsidy ends up back with the landlord after the rent payment. The inflation rate in Austria in February was 11 per cent. Tenants not only have to pay higher prices for energy and electricity like everyone else, but also higher rents.
Gabriel Felbermayr, head of the Economic Research Institute (Wifo), also criticises the government’s approach. “I thought it was clear by now that more and more new cash transfers can cushion social hardship, but do not dampen inflation, instead they even fuel it”. The state does not have these 250 million euros and has to borrow them on the capital markets; if you put new money into the economy, it drives up prices, Felbermayr said. In his view, the rent brake was a way to get out of the price spiral.
Portugal suspends VAT
The government in Portugal on the other hand, is not only putting vacant flats on the market, it is also curbing rising inflation by suspending VAT. For the time being, it is suspending VAT on 44 basic foodstuffs for six months. If necessary, it wants to extend this period. This measure is part of an agreement with producers and retailers to stabilize prices as soon as possible. The government also foresees financial support for farmers and livestock in this framework. The suspension of VAT will make bread, eggs, meat, oil, yoghurt, fish and cheese, among other things, cheaper and more affordable for Portuguese households.
This work is licensed under the Creative Common License. It can be republished for free, either translated or in the original language. In both cases, please cite https://neuezeit.at / Kasija Milošević as the original source/author and set a link to this article on Scoop.me. https://scoop.me/portugal-vacant-flats-vat/

The rights to the content remain with the original publisher. Läs mer…