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Four things my COVID-19 housing tour around Europe taught me

After analysing the response to the COVID-19 crisis from the housing sectors of eight of Europe’s largest nations, Jack Simpson picks out four of the things he has learned from his journey around the continent

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Four things my COVID-19 housing tour around Europe taught me about UK housing #ukhousing

After analysing the response to the COVID-19 crisis from the housing sectors of eight of Europe's largest nations, Jack Simpson picks out four of the things he has learned from his journey around the continent #ukhousing

For the past three weeks I have been on a European tour.

While travel restrictions may be in place still for most European nations, from my kitchen-cum-office and with the help of Zoom, I have been to Turin, Copenhagen and Tarragona.

It has taken eight countries, 12 academics and journalists and resulted in a 4,000-word feature on the continent’s response to the COVID-19 crisis.

It has been eye opening.

It has completely changed many of my preconceptions of housing policy and structures and led me to reflect on the UK’s approach to housing.

There is a lot I have learned and a lot the UK could learn, too. Here are four things I have taken away.

The UK must be kinder to its renters

When the evictions ban is lifted in the UK, there are real fears of an “avalanche of evictions”.

With tens of thousands of people likely to build up rent arrears during lockdown, the UK simply expects that landlords will start possession proceedings and many will eventually be turfed out of their homes.

Yet in many countries in Europe, similar fears of an evictions cliff edge just don’t exist. Much of this is down to the in-built protections that exist for renters.

This was summed up in one exchange that I had with a German academic. I asked him whether he feared the same wave of evictions once the ban in Germany was lifted. After looking at me with a confused expression, he said: “Of course the rent debt will accumulate but I don’t think the government will allow mass evictions – it is just not in its interest.”

Alongside its eviction ban, Germany moved quickly to put in an agreement that payments could be deferred or spread out over a two-year period. And they are coming from a place where rents are controlled.

This exchange was repeated in many of my conversations. Curt Liliegreen, project director at the Knowledge Centre for Housing Economics in Denmark, which has arguably the best protection for renters in Europe, said that renters weren’t too concerned about how the crisis might affect them. In Spain, renters are being offered either rent reductions or loans that can be paid over a 10-year period.

Even in Italy, where the tenant voice is significantly weaker than the landlord lobby, the government has agreed to extend the ban until September.

My conversations have highlighted just how far behind Europe the UK is in protecting renters.

The fact that Section 21 no-fault evictions still exist here is a great example.

This is out of the question in other European countries. In Germany, as long as you behave and pay your rent, you can live in your apartment for 20 or 30 years – which many do. In France, between the months of November to March, landlords cannot evict. The “winter truce”, as it is called, is to ensure people are not homeless during the winter months.

In Ireland, if you have been renting a property for a couple of years, you will be entitled to notice period of up to three years.

These are not ultra left-wing socialist regimes using these protections either, the politics of these places are relatively similar to the UK.

A home should provide safety and security, and countries should promote this and be on the side of the renter. In the UK, unlike much of Europe, this simply is not the case.

Europe is not a continent of renters

Throughout my life I have always had it explained to me that Britain was somehow different to the rest of Europe in terms of housing.

I have been told on numerous occasions that “they are all renters in Europe”.

I can now say confidently that is not the case.

Take out Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and every country in Europe has a portion of homeownership above 60%.

The UK actually has the sixth highest percentage of renters across the continent with 34.8%.

There is a major trend of homeownership in the eastern part of the continent. Homeownership is high in former Soviet Union countries: in Lithuania the homeownership rate is at 89.9%, Poland 84% and Estonia 82.4%.

Balkan states that were once part of the communist-run Yugoslavia such as Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia all have homeownership rates above 84%.

Romania is the top dog when it comes to homeownership, since 96.4% of all housing stock is for ownership.

Like the UK, the continent is on a journey towards more renters. A total of 23 of the 32 European countries that record housing tenure data have seen the portion of homeownership homes decrease since 2010. However, this has been by only a couple of percentage points in most cases.

The UK is in fact one of the biggest fallers, recording 70% homeownership in 2010, compared with 65.2% in 2018.

So next time you are on holiday in Spain and one of your friends says that like the rest of the continent, Spain is a nation of renters, you can put the right and tell them: “Actually, the percentage of people in Spain that own their home is 76.3%.”

Building social housing is the key to recovery… it always has been

The coming months and years are going to be unquestionably difficult.

Effectively putting the brakes on large parts of the economy over a three-month period will have a long-term detrimental effect.

As Europe takes its first tentative steps out of lockdown, countries are now putting together recovery plans and assessing how to re-energise their economies.

Investment in new social housing should be a key part of those plans.

In the years after the Second World War, public housing was an important driver of recovery.

Across countries like Italy, Germany and the Netherlands, public housebuilding programmes were put in place to physically rebuild countries decimated by bombs and conflict as well as the economies by providing much-needed jobs and stimulus.

Since then, Europe has seen a pattern of government’s selling off their housing stock to private individuals and private companies.

“A big lesson from the 2008 crash was that associations should continue to build during a recession to prevent loss of construction capacity”

Whether that is Right to Buy in the UK, the transfer of social housing to the private companies in Germany during the 1980s, or in Italy where there was a wave of local authorities selling off their most expensive public housing to raise funds, the numbers of social homes have reduced.

However, now could be the time for a social housing renaissance.

The coronavirus pandemic will have an impact on private housebuilding.

We have seen it in the UK, where house builders have embarked on major cash-saving plans, holding back on land purchases and other discretionary spends. This will be going on across the continent and hit supply.

The UK is not the only country in Europe with a housing shortage.

At a time where more people are facing financial hardship and will need subsidised rents, social housing can fill the void and keep countries building.

As Robin van Leijen, European public affairs officer at Aedes, the Dutch representative group of housing associations, told me: “A big lesson from the 2008 crash was that associations should continue to build during a recession to prevent loss of construction capacity.”

We have already seen the shoots of social housing being used as a key driver for recovery in some places.

In Denmark, the government last week approved a €4bn fund to accelerate 453 social housing renovation and regeneration schemes. When it was announced, the country’s housing minister identified that the number of construction workers these schemes would give jobs to as one of the big drivers for the investment.

In the Netherlands, the government agreed a €1bn tax cut for housing associations in return for the construction of new homes. It is expected it could result in 80,000 new homes.

Some nations have taken the lead, now other countries must follow suit.

Europe is at an important crossroads on homelessness

There have been incredible efforts across the continent to accommodate rough sleepers.

In the UK alone, thousands of people who were living on the streets were found warm and safe places to stay in a matter of weeks. The effort by councils and the government was unprecedented.

It has been similar in other countries. Whether it is block-booking hotels, extending winter accommodation, taking over Airbnb properties or even in some cases converting basketball arenas into temporary shelters, tens of thousands have been taken off the streets.

However, like in the UK, governments are now trying to work out their next steps.

What happens when lockdown ends, when the hotels reopen, when the money runs out?

The crisis has not led to many opportunities, but this is one of them. Never before will governments have a better opportunity to fix rough sleeping. With so many people now in accommodation, the first step has been completed, it is now about providing the right support and funding to ensure as many as possible stay housed.

And looking at different country’s approaches could be key.

Since Housing First was first launched in the US in the early 1990s, it has been adopted by dozens of countries across the world with many significant successes.

Innovations like that will be needed and will need to be shared quickly since UK hotels could be opening in a matter of weeks.

The incredible efforts to house rough sleepers across the continent shows that it can be done when there is a will. The question is whether there is the will to make the change permanent.

Jack Simpson, news editor, Inside Housing