Social housing in Denmark
... The affordable housing sector has the clear social obligation to ensure affordable housing for all and to ensure tenants' participation in their housing situation, as it is tenants who will use, live in, thrive on, enjoy it, and pay for building and refurbishment in the affordable housing sector through their rent. The raison d'être of housing organizations is therefore to ensure that rents do not increase in cheap housing in connection with the building and refurbishment of affordable housing, and they work without a profit in this endeavour (Engberg, 2009). It is the purpose of the sector associations ((BL, 2023, LBF, 2023, BSF, 2023) to support housing organizations and their tenants with financial support for this purpose, so that affordable housing remains affordable. ...
... As the affordable housing sector in Denmark is defined by the social agenda of providing affordable housing for all (Andersen and Fridberg, 2006), housing organizations are interested in a coherent cyclical view of their building stock when building and refurbishing in general to keep rents down, as well as regarding sustainable operation . The ability to formulate, account for, and evaluate the social components of sustainability and SVC in the building and refurbishment of affordable housing is thus of fundamental interest to the sector in specifying the socio-economic benefits of affordable housing, serving these double purposes (Engberg, 2009 Moreover, the two phased agreements do not coincide as far as the framework conditions for contractual relationships (AB) and descriptions of services (YBL 18 ENG) are concerned. This contributes to the slow pace of transformation in the sector, despite its size and its potential to be a driving force for change (Keys et al., 2023). ...
... The European Commission defined 'Building and renovating in an energy and resource-efficient way' as one of eight specific focus areas while establishing European Green Deal as a growth strategy for EU and its citizens, as a response to the challenges of exceeding planetary boundaries and compromising human rights [29,30]. ...
This research project charts a course for the transition based on a comprehensive examination of the contextual conditions for the necessary systemic change from a linear economy to a CE for building and refurbishment in Denmark’s affordable housing sector.
The project includes four scientific articles assessing contemporary tools and methods to facilitate the transition that reveal fundamental insights into the challenges and driving forces of the transition.
... The Housing Fund of the Republic of Slovenia (HFRS) is a public financial and real estate fund, established to finance and implement the National Housing Programme. The housing policy builds on three main pillars (ECSO, 2019 [27]): ...
... The first National Housing Programme included quantitative targets (e.g. to supply 10 000 new dwellings per year by 2008-09), but these objectives were only partially achieved. (ECSO, 2019 [27]) (Mežnar and Petrović, 2013[25]). The current National Housing Programme (2015-25) focuses on four main goals: a balanced supply of adequate housing; easier access to housing; better quality and more functional apartments; and increased housing mobility for the population. ...
... Društvo Kralji ulice, Inštitut za politike prostora (Mreža)) are also involved in housing policy, mainly through consultations during the preparation of policies and legislation. They also help to identify and introduce examples of good practice to improve housing supply, and especially to promote mobility and different dwelling patterns (ECSO, 2019 [27]). For example, since 2018, HFRS co-operates with Društvo Kralji ulice on a project for improving living and communications with Roma people on housing locations. ...
The Latvian government established the Housing Affordability Fund in mid‑2022, a long‑term self‑sustaining financing model to channel investment into affordable housing. The fund is now being scaled up to ensure lasting impact on the Latvian housing market. This report identifies options for institutional arrangements, funding and financing opportunities, and operational tools to achieve this aim. It draws on the rich and diverse experiences of four peer countries in establishing and operating revolving fund schemes for affordable housing (Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Slovenia), and also reflects findings from engagement with a range of stakeholders in the Latvian housing sector.
... Housing associations that run, administer and own affordable housing in Denmark are called social housing associations as a relic of earlier times. The sector is non-profit and should offer safe housing of excellent standards at affordable rents for all residents [29]. The affordable housing sector is characterised by a very high degree of resident democracy and participation in, among other things, building renovations [30]. ...
... The public authorities, however, need a means for evaluating the sustainability impacts of public investments in affordable housing [29]. ...
The building industry is essential for a national transition towards a circular economy (CE) in Denmark. The Danish state subsidises the Danish affordable housing sector, which is the largest single sector within the Danish building industry, making the sector an essential driver for the transition. The social components of sustainability are considered crucial to ensuring the quality of the environmental and economic components of the CE. However, social value creation (SVC) has been neglected in building processes, and public investments are being used without the policymakers thoroughly assessing the CE’s socioeconomic efficiency and effectiveness. The sector therefore needs integrated methodologies to support comprehensive decision making on the CE during construction and renovation. SVC is an apparent field for architectural firms. Two surveys were conducted among business and sustainability managers of Danish architectural firms to identify the challenges and potentials regarding assessing sustainability and SVC in architects’ practices. The results of the surveys are described and analysed in this study. Several impact categories, indicators and tools are identified, discussed and summarised in a methodological framework that can support architects in decision making about SVC in constructing and renovating affordable housing. Further refinement of the framework to support dynamic and iterative decision-making is anticipated as future work.
... Affordable housing is crucial in Denmark's building sector, constituting around 20% of the country's housingapproximately 600,000 homes for one million people, or one-fifth of the Danish population [3][4][5]27]. The sector is playing a pivotal role in Danish economic policy, being involved in various initiatives expected to require substantial efforts over the next decade [28], and receiving public funding for affordable housing, becomes a key driver for the circular transition of the entire building industry and serves as a benchmark for its success [29][30][31]. ...
Denmark's sizable affordable housing sector, comprising 20% of the total housing stock, holds potential as a driver for achieving Paris Agreement goals and serves as a socioeconomic benchmark. This study investigates whether a circular process model for building and renovation projects can facilitate the affordable housing sector's transition to a circular economy, emphasizing the role of the architectural profession as a catalyst for change. Twenty-three interviews were conducted with stakeholders in the building value chain, including affordable housing organizations, architectural firms, and institutional decision-makers. The interviews were systematically analyzed, addressing current challenges and drivers for a circular economy. The study recommends transitioning from the prevailing linear contractual model to a life-cycle-based decision support model, aligning with overarching national socioeconomic goals to mitigate environmental impacts and enhance social well-being. The architectural profession is urged to actively contribute to this transition by providing social commissioning and post-occupancy evaluation services
... programa de eliminación de arrabales refleja un creciente interés del público en la renovación urbana y las autoridades locales llevaron a cabo una política de demolición y reconstrucción de viviendas. Esta estrategia dio lugar a protestas de los residentes que querían preservar y modernizar las propiedades existentes (Engberg, 2000). ...
Los debates en torno a los enfoques de la intervención de los asentamientos informales se ha centrado principalmente en las actuaciones adelantadas en las ciudades de América Latina, África y Asia, dejando de lado los procesos y formas de intervención dadas en algunas ciudades europeas, actuaciones que lograron revertir la urbanización informal a partir de la constitución de marcos institucionales y normativos, la formulación e implementación de políticas, planes y programas urbanísticos y sociales dirigidos a la atención de esta problemática. En este estudio se plantearon dos objetivos principales, el primero buscó develar las interacciones sociales, ambientales e institucionales que propiciaron la configuración de los modelos de intervención de los asentamientos informales en Madrid entre 1975-2015 dirigidos a garantizar el derecho a la vivienda adecuada a las familias en situación de pobreza y exclusión, y su vinculación a las estructuras del bienestar en España...
Debates about intervention approaches on informal settlements have focused mainly on the actions carried out in the cities of Latin America, Africa and Asia, leaving aside the processes and forms of intervention given in some European cities, actions that managed to revert informal urbanization through the constitution of institutional and regulatory frameworks, the formulation and implementation of specific urban and social policies, plans and programs aimed at respond this problem.This study had two main objectives. The first sought to unveil the social, environmental and institutional interactions that led to the configuration of intervention models of informal settlements in Madrid between 1975-2015 aimed at guaranteeing the right to adequate housing for families in poverty and exclusion situation as well as their connection to welfare structures in Spain. The second, aimed to identify the substantive and specific contributions of Social Work to the constitution of the public housing provision system and to the social integration of the families living in the shanty towns of Madrid. Special attention has payed to neighborhoods remodeling and rehousing programs implemented in that period of study...
https://eprints.ucm.es/id/eprint/55589/
... Because of relative cheap rents in elderly part of the sector, there is an excessive demand for private housing particularly in Copenhagen and in the major cities of Aarhus, Aalborg and Odense. Keeping rents down creates a barrier to mobility on the housing market, because persons occupying cheap flats have little incentive to move on to more expensive private ownership (Engberg, 2000:10, Vestergaard, 2001. ...
Housing expenses have the highest share in household budgets of low-income groups in Copenhagen leading to affordability problems. To provide affordable housing (AH) for low-income groups, the municipality developed a zoning plan in 2015 aimed to reserve up to 25% of land for new AH production. This qualitative case study compares the affordability of homes produced by private sector and nonprofit housing associations for low-income young groups at the risk of poverty and families in North and South Harbor areas of Copenhagen. Also, this paper explores local housing partnership agreements since 2009 and zoning plan developments in Copenhagen since 2015. Findings present the role of local governments in shaping socioeconomic structure and partnership agreements that led to the development of AH by land use zoning in Copenhagen. In North Harbor, there were no AH units for families and young groups until 2020 when they were produced according to this zoning plan. The discussion presents the AH development in the higher property value harbor areas as a small but promising solution and a leading example for other Scandinavian countries.
Public housing is a public sector that has been severely affected by privatization policies. Not so in Denmark, however, where public housing is not provided directly by the State but is run by independent housing associations: the “common housing” sector. This sector is the outcome of a compromise between the social-democratic movement and liberal-conservative parties in the 1920-30s. The social-democrats were politically too weak to implement their “municipal socialism” programme, which included (municipal) State-owned housing. This weakness, however, has in fact proven itself to be strength in the face of recent State-led privatization and mercantilization schemes. This experience problematizes the assumptions underlying the historical construction of the welfare State and its role in stewarding resources that are put in common, particularly in the sphere of housing. Instituting the common beyond the direct reach of the State is a lesson that can be learnt from the demise of social-democratic welfare statism.
Access to decent and affordable housing is a fundamental human need and a human right (UN, 1948). The UNECE Social Housing Study finds that housing is the least affordable human right of all. At least 100 million low- and middle-income people in the UNECE region are housing cost overburdened; they spend more than 40 per cent of their disposable income on housing. High housing costs for low-income households leave limited resources for other basic needs, such as food, health, clothing and transportation. This means that the lack of affordable housing makes other human rights increasingly unaffordable. Housing systems are diverse and context specific. However, in the UNECE region, they share certain characteristics. In nearly all UNECE countries, there is some support for those who cannot afford housing costs. Although each country defines social housing differently, social housing is an integral part of housing systems that are designed to fulfill a housing need for those who cannot compete in the market, afford to be homeowners or rent decent housing in the private market. When the owner occupied sector and the private rental sector suffer, as was the case in the recent crisis, the demand for affordable housing options increases. The social and affordable housing sector faces two challenges at the moment: increased need and reduced funds. This study highlights that the number of households registered on social housing lists in the UNECE member States has risen since the start of the global financial crisis. However, the crisis has made state spending cuts necessary and inevitable. These have disproportionally affected the housing sector. “Everywhere, there is great need for safe, decent, and affordable housing at the lowest income levels” (Peppercorn and Taffin, 2013, p. The global financial crisis has changed the context in which housing systems operate, and the future is uncertain (Stephens and Norris, 2011). In the past, social housing may have provided a home for the vulnerable and poor in the majority of UNECE countries. However, the recent crisis has not only increased but also diversified the social housing need. The elderly, young (first-time buyers), middle-income households as well as vulnerable and special groups are in housing need. Current challenges offer opportunities to re-examine the sector, adjust it to the new dynamic of the housing market and meet new aspirations, such as energy efficiency and customer adjusted design.
The UNECE Social Housing Study and this summary contribute to bringing social housing to the forefront of the housing agenda of UNECE countries and to providing general guidance for policymakers whose actions can have an effect on where and how people live. The study identifies current trends and challenges and provides advice on social housing policy at the international level. The report offers information in support of further discussion, in-depth and context specific research for advancing social housing development by governments, local authorities, investors, private developers and NGOs to advance social housing as a critical housing option.
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