Here's how six European countries (including Portugal) are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in the housing sector

At a time when staying at home is crucial to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Rede H (Rede Nacional de Estudos sobre Habitação - the National Housing Studies Network), founded in February 2020, has mapped out the measures adopted by six European countries to deal with the coronavirus crisis. The countries which have been studied are Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and the measures put in place all have a direct impact on housing policies in five key areas: evictions, rental, mortgages, public housing and measures for the homeless. 

"The result of this survey identifies some similarities, but also many differences in the responses found," writes the Portuguese newspaper Público, who had access to the survey. "The different approaches reveal different modes of action and political ideologies, but they also arise from diverse starting contexts. With different rental and social support systems, some countries consider that they already have a sufficiently comprehensive safety net that it is enough to reinforce it, while others have to create mechanisms from scratch to guarantee the basics", reads the document. Let's see how Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, the UK and Ireland deal with five key areas of housing:

Measures for the homeless

The measures taken in this area in the six countries have almost always been the responsibility of the local authorities, who have been developing temporary accommodation initiatives, either in sports halls, as in several cases of national municipalities (Lisbon, Cascais, Funchal), or in tourist accommodation now available (in Berlin and Dublin), amongst others. 

The exceptions are in the UK and Spain, where the responses to this problem are found at central level. The British government has set up a 3.2 million pound (3.6 million euro) emergency fund for local administrations to house people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and Spain now includes homeless people in its programme to support the most vulnerable sections of society, which finances access to housing up to 400 euros per month.

More recently, in Portugal, the network of youth hostels has also made itself available to provide support in response to the pandemic, particularly in cases of urgent housing needs, such as homeless people, for whom 400 beds have been reserved.

Evictions

All the countries analysed created ways to suspend evictions and strengthen the guarantee of access to housing, albeit through different mechanisms and with different degrees of coverage. In most cases, the measure covers all situations, but in Germany it applies only to those who have suffered a significant loss of income due to the emergency situation and have no alternative housing. 

In Spain, evictions had already been temporarily and generally suspended, but the government extended expired permanent housing leases until two months after the state of emergency. In Portugal, evictions, and opposition to the renewal of contracts, are suspended while exceptional and temporary measures in response to the pandemic are in place.

Rentals

Countries that already had rent support schemes for low-income tenants or those in temporary need (such as Germany, Italy or the United Kingdom) have increased the budget for their support schemes (increased subsidy amounts, wider eligibility criteria, new application deadlines). Portugal and Spain advanced with moratoria on the payment of rents, aimed at households with a significant loss of income and an effort rate with housing above 35%. 

In Portugal, these loans, with a six-month grace period, may be applied for by tenants eligible for the moratorium and by landlords who find themselves in a situation of economic deprivation due to the loss of income resulting from a moratorium. 

In the case of Spain, the repayment period for these loans may be up to 10 years. However, the loan scheme can only be triggered in cases where the landlord is a small owner, someone with 1 or 2 properties, or, in the case of a large owner, in cases where the tenant decides to opt for this scheme and not for what would apply to his or her landlord. For owners with more than 10 properties in the rental market, the landlord himself must reduce the rent by 50% or accept payment of the missing amount for a period of 3 or 4 years.

Mortgage Loans

Moratoria have been established in all countries, albeit under different regimes and levels of coverage. In general, capital and interest moratoria are created on public initiative, exclusively for those who have suffered a direct impact due to the emergency situation created by the pandemic.

In Ireland, however, there has been no government action in this regard, the moratoria having been created by the banks themselves, in this case strictly capital and with less favourable conditions for customers. 

Italy is the only country where this measure involves public expenditure, with the State paying 50% of the interest due during the moratorium period.

Public housing

Although information is not available for all cases, it can be seen that, mainly through the action of regional or local government entities, ways have been found to support residents in public housing, through the revision of the values of rent adjusted to the income earned during this period, the negotiation of debts, the creation of moratoria or even the exemption of rent payments

Article seen at: Habitação: as soluções de seis países europeus para enfrentar a pandemia (Público)