2023-10-16 16:42:02
In Spain there are 28,552 people who do not have a home, 25% more than in 2012, according to the survey published by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) last year. The majority are men, around 77%, although the number of women has increased by around 20% in the last ten years. This endemic disease of society affects everyone equally, in all age ranges and in all nationalities, Spanish or foreign, although the data used to treat it only takes into account those who receive care in healthcare centers.
To solve this problem, third sector entities and NGOs They propose to differentiate between two lines of action: Housing First y Housing Led. In both, housing is the center of help for the person in a situation of sinhogarismoand are currently in operation, achieving notable successes, according to the report ‘Is a house the same as a home?’prepared and promoted by the international consulting firm EY. Housing Led is focused only on people who are in a situation like this for the first time, offering them shared housing and support on a temporary basis, while Housing First attacks just the opposite segment, the most vulnerable, those individuals who live on the street. , in an emergency situation, and need an individual home and long-term support.
One of the pioneering plans in Spain began in Spain in 2014, the Habitat Programpowered by the non-profit organization Home Yes. This program was carried out with 152 people, all with mental health problems, addictions or disabilities. The results obtained were positive: income from begging and victimization and discrimination were reduced.
Solution to the problem, with numbers
According to the EY report, placing three homeless people in a single home, The national problem would be solved with around 10,000 units and an investment of 1.2 billion euros (100,000 euros per home), but only between 480 and 600 million would be necessary if debt is used to make the acquisitions. “It is important to note that the origin of all these funds does not have to be 100% a monetary contribution, but can also come through subsidies and contributions of assets by different owners or administrations,” the study states.
In addition to the funds necessary to dispose of the properties, There is a rental cost for these, maintenance and accompaniment to the residents. The ‘big four’ estimates that between 151 and 175 million euros should be allocated annually for this purpose: around a profitability between 6% and 8% for the apartment owners and a salary cost of 39,000 euros for each employee. of accompaniment.
To solve the problem of homelessness in Spain It is not necessary to build a single house. “There are 3.4 million empty houses, so the necessary stock exists, in the absence of rehabilitating and making this system available. From the investor’s perspective, apart from being a profitable investment and with a high ESG component, there are certain market players that could take advantage of this solution to sell part of the stock they have on balance and currently have a difficult time selling on the market,” they add from EY. In this program, according to the consultancy, some of the large funds could participate, but also individuals.
What is needed to solve the problem of homelessness?
According to the aforementioned EY study, to solve the problem of homelessness, implementing the Housing First solution, four actors are necessary: an owner of the property, a tenant, a user and a support. The owner of the houses can be an NGO, a public administration, individuals, institutions or even investment vehicles that are created specifically for this, such as Primero H, which will soon go public, or Techo, which has already raised 22 million to buy houses. The tenants who will pay an adjusted and below-market rent to the owners will be NGOs or public administrations, within their work of providing social housing, because the users do not have the funds to do so. These agents must also be in charge of accompanying the resident to protect and improve their personal situation.
Pedro Cabrera, professor of Sociology at the Pontifical University of Comillas and one of the leading experts on the subject, stressed the importance of coordination between the different agents involved in social housing. During the presentation of the study he stated: “If there is a communication failure that really slows down the solution to this problem, it is the lack of connection or constructive relationship between the administrations responsible for housing and those for social services“The scholar also provided revealing data on homelessness, which does not take into account any official source, such as that around 20% of the people who are affected by this problem have a disability greater than 33% or that 30% of They charge some type of benefit, which is around 300 or 400 euros.
#Support #protection #short #long #term #proposals #homelessness #Spain