The State of Housing in the EU 2017
The Housing Europe Observatory, the research branch of Housing Europe, released The State of Housing in the EU 2017 this week. This year’s flagship report includes detailed housing statistics for each European Union member state, the latest housing trends in a cross-country observation, and a compilation of the most significant policy updates since the 2015 report. Some key findings include: house prices are growing faster than income in most member states; governmental response to housing challenges still needs improvement; the local government tends to generate more housing solutions than the national government. The publication also suggests that defining homelessness in quantitative terms has been a difficult task for Europe.
Read the report here.
Sleeping Rough in Christchurch, New Zealand
According to Bridget Rutherford at Star Media, a recent point-in-time count conducted by the city council suggest that about 200 people are sleeping rough at any given time in Christchurch, New Zealand. The data revealed that about 84% of the people experience street homelessness. The city council, local housing providers, social services agencies, and other local homelessness organizations have presented a housing first proposal to the Ministry of Social Development. If accepted, Christchurch Methodist Mission, Emerge Aotearoa and Comcare Trust are expected to take the lead with support from Christchurch City Mission, Te Whare Roimata and Collective for the Homeless.
Read the article here.
Salt Lake City Plans Affordable Housing Development
Homeless Outreach Program Director Charly Swett says that affordable housing is an especially hard thing to find in Salt Lake City. According to Lauren Steinbrecher of Fox 13, the city is exploring new affordable housing development plans to help solve the issue. A draft proposal, which includes the development of permanent supportive housing complexes for people exiting homelessness, will be reviewed by the city’s Redevelopment Agency. “The hope is that a number of those people will be in housing rather than in shelters,” stated City Council Member, Lisa Adams. The article goes into further detail about how the city proposes to allocate money from the budget.
Read the article here.
CAEH’s New Goal for the 20,000 Homes Campaign
This week, at the 2017 National Conference on Ending Homelessness, the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) announced a new goal for their 20,000 Homes Campaign– to end chronic homelessness in 20 communities across Canada by the year 2020. The shift stems from lessons learned throughout the first two years of the campaign and requires the Alliance to place more emphasis on critical community strategies, such as real-time data collection and coordinated access systems, in addition to persistently housing those experiencing homelessness. “We’re learning a lot about what it takes to end chronic homelessness from our campaign communities and work with our Built for Zero partners in the US,” said Director of the 20,000 Homes Campaign, Marie Morrison.
Read more here.
Sri Lanka and India Collaborate to Build Housing
This week, Sri Lanka and India signed agreements to collaborate on constructing housing for people experiencing homelessness in Sri Lanka. The project is apart of India’s commitment to assist Sri Lanka with the development of housing infrastructure. According to Indian High Commissioner, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, construction of the housing will be led by the owner-driven model and funded by Indian grant assistance. “Until now, the Indian housing grants in Sri Lanka were limited to north, east, and tea plantation area. Now they have extended assistance to provide housing the southern district too,” stated Housing Minister Sajith Premadasa.
Read the article here.