Home. Affordable rent, the Municipality strengthens support measures for young people and pensioners
Home. Affordable rent, the Municipality strengthens support measures for young people and pensioners
The contributions that will be paid by Milano Abitare, the Agency for the promotion of the agreed rent, are increasing. Rabaiotti: “The affordable rental front is open: we need to insist, young people are returning to the city, the universities are moving and increasing the solutions for temporary living”
Milan, July 21 2019 - Sustainable rent in the city, new incentive proposals are arriving for young and old. As part of the strategy to support affordable rentals, one of the main drivers of dynamism and attractiveness especially for those under 35, the Municipality has decided to activate some new measures to meet the needs of the most exposed groups of citizens.
Milan is one of the most attractive cities at a European level, thanks also to the driving role of many sectors, from tourism to cultural offerings, from universities to innovative proposals, from design to fashion: a role that increases the demand for rentals, especially temporary, which often translates into high fees, therefore inaccessible for many. In fact, there remains a need to provide answers to those citizens who struggle to find an adequate housing solution: young people, families in difficulty due to a reduction in income, who struggle to maintain their rented home and are at risk of eviction, owners who have lost the house to foreclosure and subsequent auction. An audience of potential tenants who need a more differentiated offer and lower rents.
The new annual operational project for Milano Abitare was born from these considerations, the social rental agency in agreement with the Municipality, drawn up by the Administration and just approved by the Council.
The Agency deals in particular with promoting and facilitating the signing of contracts with an agreed fee, i.e. lower than the market values of approximately 40%: a type of contract which, thanks also to the constant attention of the Administration, to the collaboration with major property managers, is starting to gain traction in the city. In the second half of 2018, there were 281 contracts of this type concluded with the support of the Agency, a number more than triple compared to the average of previous semesters. And only from January to today has the number exceeded 400 units.
In total, between the work of Milano Abitare and that of the real estate agencies, three thousand contracts were signed in the city, equal to approximately 10% of those signed overall.
The operational plan, the last before the closing of the agreement which will expire in March 2020, envisages, as always, the use of funds to facilitate the subscription of rents at agreed rents (this year, to cover the activities, the use of over three million euros), with the addition of some important innovations.
First of all, in fact, it introduces a measure dedicated to retired tenants for whom the rent affects more than 20% of their income: the contribution (1.500 euros or 2.500 if the rent is agreed) will be paid to the owner of the apartment in they live in deducted from future rents, against the commitment not to increase it for a year or to renew it under the same conditions if it expires.
The fund to be drawn on will have a capacity of approximately 700 thousand euros, and will also be valid for home owners who, following a drop in income which prevents them from paying the mortgage installments contracted, are seized: in this case the support will be reach up to five thousand euros, always to cover future rental payments.
A measure aimed at young workers (20-35 years) in economic difficulty will also be activated on an experimental basis, again to encourage the stipulation of contracts with an agreed fee, to facilitate their economic and, at the same time, social autonomy.
Another new feature: the Administration will bear the costs of bilateral certification (by the property and the tenant) of future contracts with an agreed fee, introduced by the new national convention on territorial agreements.
The stipulation of rental contracts agreed through the Milano Abitare Agency remains convenient for the owners, as well as for the tenants, also thanks to other envisaged measures: the Imu is halved, access to a one-off contribution which varies from 1.200 to two thousand euros, four thousand euros are guaranteed for any renovation work and bringing the apartment up to standard, while the eviction fund will continue to guarantee contributions to the owners if, in the event of default by the tenant proven to be innocent, they agree to defer the eviction of at least six months (contribution of four thousand euros), or if it switches to the agreed fee with a contract duration of at least 18 months (up to 12 thousand euros).
"We know that the path is still uphill - comments the councilor for Housing and Public Works Gabriele Rabaiotti - but we have managed to open a front, that of more accessible rent, which no one has taken care of since the 1980s. a city that reduces rental homes and is unable to articulate its offering is destined to close down, to no longer be attractive, to lose opportunities for growth and innovation, to become empty. We must certainly insist, but young people are returning to the city , the Universities are moving and the solutions for temporary housing are increasing. Strengthening the activities of the Milano Abitare Agency means being aware that we still have work to do, but also that what we have done so far has been a useful contribution for Milan" .
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Updated: 22/07/2019