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.
