Fondation Abbé Pierre - FEANTSA - Abbé Pierre Fondation FOURTH OVERVIEW OF HOUSING EXCLUSION IN EUROPE 2019 Fondation Abbé Pierre - FEANTSA THIS IS A JOINT PUBLICATION BY FEANTSA ACKNOW- AND THE FOUNDATION ABBÉ PIERRE LEDGEMENTS COORDINATION # Chloé Serme-Morin # Sarah Coupechoux CONTRIBUTORS # Ruth Owen # Manuel Domergue # Maria-José Aldanas # Mauro Striano # Anne-Claire Mejean-Vaucher # Freek Spinnewijn # Dalma Fabian WE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS FOR THEIR VALUABLE INPUT # Laura Rahman # Alexander Colling # Emma Nolan # Laurent Mertens # Isabel Baptista and researchers from the European Observatory on Homelessness # Members of FEANTSA's Board of Directors and President Ian Tilling # FEANTSA member organisations # In dividuals, users or professionals in the sector, who were interviewed as part of the report: Jesus, Ricardo, Miguel Neves, Sonia Veloso, Filipe Miranda, as well as the people who were quoted by the Foundation Abbé Pierre Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Foundation in this report. # Th e organisations which provided us with the photographs for this report and the photographers: Thomas Friedl, Anders Rye Skjoldjensen, the City of Barcelona, the Samu Social of Paris, BMSZKI, Végh László, fio.PSD, Daniele Lazzaretto - Lilithphoto, Henriëtte Guest, Dariusz Dobrowolski, Bojan Kuljanac, Matilda Jägerden, Sylwia Stefaniak.. TRANSLATION # Elizabeth Hayes and Tara Horan GRAPHIC DESIGN # Genaro Studio MARCH 2019 FOURTH OVERVIEW OF HOUSING EXCLUSION IN EUROPE 2019 ÉDITO- RIAL n the eve of the Europe 2020 strategy wish to condemn the significant decline in deadline, the European elections European ambition to fight poverty and to in May and the changeover of ask the following questions: what is meant the current Commission to a by 'European cohesion' when another Europe, new team, it is time to take stock whose ranks have swelled to an unprecedented Oof the progress made over the last ten years degree in recent years, is left on the margins of towards the Europe 2020 objectives, including our societies, deprived of a home, a dwelling, or in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. even a shelter? What does 'European cohesion' mean when people affected by the fire in their In 2018, two conclusions to be drawn: first, council housing building still find themselves a fragile return to economic growth across without a sustainable housing solution months the continent was a source of pride for many after the disaster, while a block of apartments representatives of the European institutions. is resold for EUR 183 million to its own owner At the opening of the 13th G20 Summit at the via offshore companies in order to 'refinance end of November 2018, European Commission his property'? What does 'European cohesion' President Jean-Claude Juncker welcomed the mean when more than one homeless person fact that Europe had witnessed '22 consecutive dies every day on the streets in France on quarters of economic growth, a growth that average 30 years younger than the general now extends to all EU Member States. Growth population and when this pernicious number is back and it is back everywhere in Europe'. has increased by 24% between 2013 and 2017 in The second observation, made much more the United Kingdom? discreetly by the same representatives, is that This is the fourth 'Overview of Housing of a bitter failure with dramatic consequences: Exclusion in Europe' that we have released. The the goals of combating poverty and social Foundation Abbé Pierre and FEANTSA member exclusion by 2020 remain totally out of reach. associations did not wait until they had a Compared to 2008, the first (and very slight) voice at EU level to sound the alert regarding decrease in the number of people at risk of housing exclusion and homelessness in poverty and social exclusion was only recorded their respective countries. The 'l’Etat du mal- in 2017. logement' [‘Housing Exclusion in France’] Not everyone is benefiting from our renewed report by the Foundation Abbé Pierre has growth, far from it in fact. In this report, we been published every year since 1996. Studies on the large-scale homelessness scandal, the human dignity, guaranteeing the credibility multiple realities it hides and the concrete of the European social project. Emergency methods to end it abound all over Europe. This accommodation services must be part of this research is carried out by field organisations, transition, by being put in its rightful place: as in addition to their vital front-line work, and facilities with unconditional and immediate by many researchers, including those running access, where stays are short-term and the European Observatory on Homelessness. allow users to be directed towards dignified, The lack of coherent EU monitoring of housing appropriate long-term support and housing exclusion and homelessness, a task that solutions. The inability of emergency services should be the responsibility of EU institutions to tackle homelessness is not simply a failure within their shared competence in the field to be attributed to the homeless sector, but of economic, social and territorial cohesion, an overall failure of public policies to prevent has led our partners to produce this report situations of extreme poverty and housing every year. But despite the alarm bells that we loss. It is therefore through large-scale public have sounded since the first edition in 2015, policies, implemented and evaluated over the decisive shifts that were needed have not the long term, that progress in this area will occurred, either at EU or national level. be made. The establishment of a strategy to eradicate homelessness in Europe by 2030 by This year we are exploring the state of access EU institutions would be a good way to set an to emergency accommodation in Europe, so example. that all decision-making bodies in Europe can see the indignity and inhumanity of our shelter systems. EU institutions, Member Freek Spinnewijn States and local authorities, as legislators and FEANTSA Director guarantors of the implementation of public Christophe Robert policies, must accept their responsibility Foundation Abbé Pierre Managing Director for this situation, which is worsening every year in most European countries. The increasingly severe saturation of emergency accommodation facilities, the inadequacy of services to increasingly diverse homeless populations and the shortage of sustainable and affordable housing solutions after leaving these facilities render the fundamental right to an emergency shelter meaningless. The perpetuation of emergency accommodation and the chronic problem of homelessness are nowadays characteristic of how we routinely assist the most deprived. The previous edition of this report enabled us to explain how to concretely mobilise a legal basis, political will and strategic planning so that the elimination of homelessness and the fight against housing exclusion cease to be a utopia and become an imperative to protect CONTENTS # CHAPTER 1 OVERSUBSCRIBED, INSECURE AND UNSUITABLE: EMERGENCY ACCOMMODATION IN EUROPE 9 INTRODUCTION : Definition of emergency accommodation and statistics 10 – The different ways of managing emergency accommodation measures across Europe 12 – The statistics for accommodation in Europe 14 I/ EMERGENCY ACCOMMODATION IN EUROPE IS NOT UNCONDITIONAL 17 1. Weather-response management: how the public response to homelessness is part of the problem 20 2. A difficult route to admission, subject to the intervention of diagnostic experts 21 3. Admission criteria and prioritisation: the selectiveness of the right to accommodation 23 II/ EMERGENCY ACCOMMODATION: A SHORT-TERM SOLUTION UNSUITED TO LONG-TERM NEEDS 30 1. From overcrowded dormitories to ‘humanised’ accommodation 32 2. Services that have not evolved to meet the needs of users 35 3. Emergency accommodation as a contributing factor in chronic homelessness 38 III/ WHY AND TOWARDS WHAT A WAY OUT MUST BE FOUND 44 1. The cost of homelessness in Europe 45 2. Investing in a ‘home’ 47 WHAT SHOULD EUROPE DO? 51 – The European Union’s defence of fundamental values 53 – Legislative authority 53 – Investment 54 – Follow-up, coordination and guidance 55 CONTENTS # CHAPTER 2 EUROPEAN INDEX OF HOUSING EXCLUSION 2019 59 Foreword 62 1. Housing expenditure: growing out of control 64 2. Housing quality and quality of life: unfit housing in Europe 70 3. Social factors exacerbating housing difficulties 74 Close-ups on housing exclusion in four EU countries 80 Poland 81 Netherlands 85 Germany 89 Portugal 93 APPENDICES 97 I/ Recent data on homelessness in EU countries 97 II/ Bibliography and methodology 100 HOUSING EXCLUSION IN EUROPE: KEY STATISTICS 110 8 # CHAPTER 1 OVERSUBSCRIBED, INSECURE AND UNSUITABLE: EMERGENCY ACCOMMODATION IN EUROPE 9 # CHAPTER 1 OVERSUBSCRIBED, INSECURE AND UNSUITABLE: EMERGENCY ACCOMMODATION IN EUROPE INTRODUCTION DEFINITION OF EMERGENCY ACCOMMODATION AND STATISTICS ccess to shelter, i.e. accommodation in the event of an emergency, is a fundamental right. Homelessness is a counterpart to extreme poverty and a consequence of periods of economic recession. Until the middle of the 20th century, vagrancy legislation was very common in AEurope: a homeless person was often considered destitute and to be on the margins of society, accused of having an ‘anti-social lifestyle’, criminalised and sometimes put into the army or forced into labour1. As part of their charitable work, religious institutions took in the homeless – at that time called ‘paupers’ or ‘vagabonds’