June 20201 Author: Laura Colini UIA Expert The ‘CALICO’ project Journal N° 1 Project led by Brussels Capital Region HOUSING 1 Based on the state of play as of Dec 2019 – Jan 2020 Table of Contents 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 2. CALICO IN THE BRUSSELS CAPITAL REGION 5 3. OVERVIEW AND UPDATE OF CALICO PROJECT (END 2019) 7 4. THE 7 UIA CHALLENGES 10 4.1 Leadership 10 4.2 Smart public procurement for implementation 11 4.3 Organisational arrangements within urban authorities to deliver integrated innovative projects 13 4.4 Participative approach for co-implementation 14 4.5 Monitoring & evaluation 17 4.6 Communicating with target beneficiaries 18 4.7 Upscaling 18 5. SUMMARY OF THE CHALLENGES 19 APPENDIX – CALICO PARTNERSHIP 20 2 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CALICO is a three years project awarded by the 1. Beside homeownership, CALICO designs, IIIrd EU Urban Innovative Action (UIA) thematic finances and realise mixed-use of shared call, together with other 4 cities, testing solutions spaces and housing units for rent, implying, of affordable and adequate housing in therefore, innovation in financial and their localities. potentially juridical aspects of the CLT. CALICO stands for CAre and LIving in COmmunity, 2. The governance structure adopts a co-creation for the creation of 34 housing units and communal approach, taking decisions with a sociocratic spaces in the city of Brussels, Belgium. It adopts management, with its members that the model of the Community Land Trust (CLT), include NGOs. known for providing affordable non-market 3. It tackles inter-generational and diversity, oriented housing based on long-term land lease crossing different values and cultures, hence governed by a trust. The model, widely adopted targeting vulnerable and low-income with variations over the world, has been existing households, specifically older people, (single) in the last 50 years mostly in the USA and UK. In women and people with a migration background. recent times, it met a renewed interest among those committed to promote non-speculative 4. It focuses on aspects of mutual community housing towards homeownership in an urban care and gender equality. setting. The overall goal is to counteract the rapid 5. It is the first CLT that makes use of ERDF escalation of social inequalities, by stemming the (European Regional Development Fund). Al- lack of affordable and adequate housing in though CLTB relied on public funds, this Brussels and more widely in Europe. As a concept, combination with local and EU funds is the CLT is cognate to various collaborative and unprecedented in other CLT related projects non-mainstream inclusive housing solutions in Brussels and the EU. which include experiments and practices under These and others are indeed multifaceted aspects definitions of co-housing, collective, of innovation, which represent as well as community-led, solidarity-based living. The challenges for the success of the project. Community of CALICO, as many other CLT, is oriented to the neighbourhood participation and This first Journal is a descriptive overview of the mutual support. CALICO is, however, a unique CALICO. It will serve the reader to get acquainted and ambitious interpretation of community- with the project, focusing as requested by the oriented, inclusive living and an experimental UIA Initiative on the 7 UIA challenges. For the understanding of CLT. Its particularity lays in drafting of this first CALICO Journal, interviews features that are not common to other examples were conducted in December 2019 to selected of CLT: members of the Community Land Trust Brussels 3 (CLTB) initiators and CALICO project managers, and the CLTB members, the NGO Angela D and the NGOs CALICO partners and the Brussels Pass-ages for the interviews which will be used in Logement finance manager. Desk research further deliveries of CALICO Journals, Zoom-in supported the evidence of the information. and blog. Thanks for the transcriptions of the Thanks to the project manager Arthur Cady CLTB, interviews to Arthur Nihaoul, Tesserae-Berlin. 4 2. CALICO IN THE BRUSSELS CAPITAL REGION The project of CALICO was born in the wake of • Moderate, medium or free housing on which Community Land Trust Projects created in the OIPs4 other than the SISP, exercises real Brussels since 2012, and now growing with the right or rent. scope of delivering non-market-oriented social • Moderate accommodation under management housing, responding to the lack of adequate and by the AIS5; affordable housing in the Brussels-Capital Region (BCR). • Low-cost housing units subject to a mortgage at a subsidised rate granted by the Housing Fund; The BCR does not register a different trend form other EU capital cities in the lack of adequate • The average housing produced and sold by housing especially for the most vulnerable Citydev`, during the duration under conditions. population such as homeless, young and single- women and single-mothers, single household, as well as unemployed, precarious and low-income workers, and other groups discriminated in accessing the housing market. “Social” housing with public management and Social housing operators in Brussels social purpose is defined as a concept by the in the Rent and ownership sector. 2009 General Policy Declaration of the Source: Bruxelles Logement (DES et OBL), OIP, SLRB (Observatoire des Loyers 2018), CLTB, FDL, citydev, 2018 Government Brussels and meant for people in severe social and financial conditions, with To this range of options belongs the Community allocation mechanisms based on a combination Land Trust Brussels to which CALICO project also of income ceilings and priority target groups. belong. Since 1980, social housing has been decentralised and is now the competence of three Regions: the Although the growth on public housing stock Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the registered a positive sign (from 10,715 homes in Brussels-Capital Region. Publicly managed social June 2017 to 11,124 homes a year later)6, the AIS housing stock covers the following categories: registered a steady growth over the years (the last figure show 5534 dwellings in 2018 with an • Social housing managed by the SISP2 under increase of 15% since 2016) social provision of the supervision of the SLRB3; 2 SISP Société Immobilière de Service Public - Real Estate Agency of public service. 3 SLRB Société du Logement de la Région de Bruxelles-Capitale - Housing Agency of the Brussels-Capital Region 4 Public real estate operators (OIP) which forty public or quasi-public bodies and finance by public bodies. In practice, the IOPs are the municipalities (as well as their Régies), the CPAS, the Housing Fund, the SABH8 and the Régie regional property 5 Social Real Estate Agencies (AIS) are recognized non-profit organizations, approved and subsidized by Bruxelles Logement, the public body of the Brussels-Capital Region in charge of housing. 6 BRUXELLES LOGEMENT • ATLAS DU LOGEMENT EN RÉGION DE BRUXELLES-CAPITALE, 2019 pp 19 5 housing is still low and with uneven presence in affordable rents or homeownership even within the territory7. the Belgian system of public subsidies. In 2009 the government’s objective was then to In this panorama, was created in 2012 the bring the share of housing with public Community Land Trust Brussels (CLTB), a new management and social purpose at 15% of actor in the provision of social housing Brussels real estate stock. experimenting for the first time in Belgium and continental Europe the Community Land Trust However, as for 2019, the share of publicly model, using public subsidies both for the managed and social purpose housing represents purchase of land and the provision of the house. 11.8% of the entire Brussels housing stock in the It is within the CLTB that CALICO was designed face of an unmatched long list of demands. with local NGOs and other public and private Therefore the crisis of housing is evident, actors to experiment with the realisation of especially for the population in precarious or shared living. disadvantage conditions unable to access 7 Ibidem pp 26 6 3. OVERVIEW AND UPDATE OF CALICO PROJECT (END 2019) The CALICO project officially began in November Adopting the model of the CLT, CALICO plans to 2018 under the initiative of the Community Land realise a social mix, intergenerational and Trust Brussels (CLTB). The housing units are under communal living housing complex in the lot construction since May 2019 and planned to be between Delta street, Tropiques Avenue and Van delivered by April 2021. Volxem Avenue, in the municipality of Forest, a municipality located in the southwest of the Brussels-Capital Region. Forest neighbourhood, and the area where CALICO is located Well connected and not too far distant from the • 34 apartments of which 8 sales at a social price city center, Forest is a place of significant industry by CLTB, 4 apartment to rent for people aged at with the automobile industry and a vital area least 55 at the moving-in date,2 apartment linked to the railways, with few historic landmarks, “transit” for very vulnerable households with attractive green spaces and parks, counting a urgent housing needs ( these will be co- population of 56.289 (statistics 20198) rapidly managed with the Public Welfare Centre of the growing9 due to market pressures in the heart of Municipality of Forest), 10 apartments Brussels and the rising numbers of newcomers managed by the NGO Angela.D and 10 who finds a new living place in Brussels. apartments by the NGO Pass-ages. The project CALICO, installed into a more