Social Housing (ERP) Project

Several studies carried out by the Agenzia del Territorio reveal that the number of residential property units in Tuscany now exceeds 2 million, while the number of families amounts overall to around 1 million 600 thousand. The housing problem affects in particular low-income families, families with little capital and no family support, large families and families renting accommodation. Excessively high housing costs cause situations of unease which tend to be aggravated at present, in a society suffering a major economic crisis. The negative effects in turn sometimes lead to cases of eviction and of children having to stay at home with their original family for longer.

Statistics from the Ministry of the Interior show that the number of evictions has increased dramatically, up from 2 thousand a year to over 6 thousand, largely as a result of the excessive cost of accommodation. One of the main tools for action is the Social Housing project (known as ERP) which aims to allocate funds for the renovation of around 130/140 property units belonging to the social housing stock of the Florence City Council.

To date these contributions have not been allocated in view of the absence of the necessary funds for the minimum renovation costs, including rendering the systems compliant with regulations. Through the resources placed at disposal by the Regional Authority the managing body, Firenze Casa spa, will be able to bring 80 /90 accommodation units up to compliance.

In order to resolve this shortage of funds, the Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze has therefore earmarked a maximum of € 300,000 for the Social Housing project to contribute to the regularisation of 15/18 lodgings. These will be made available to applicants through assignation systems based on the ERP rankings. This task will be performed by the Fondazione Opera Pia Comitato Case ad Uso degli Indigenti di Firenze which has dealt with Social Housing for some time and which owns 28 buildings comprising around 1,060 apartments for use as Social Housing in the city of Florence. These apartments, which accommodate a total of around 3,000 people, are offered on rent at rates lower than those of the territorial agreements, starting from a minimum of € 70 a month.