Federabitazione explains social housing

(ANSA) - Milan, July 7 - The Italian federation of housing cooperatives Federabitazione-Confcooperative has given a preview of a survey it is currently carrying out on social housing in Italy at the Milan Expo 2015 world's fair.
    The first results of the ongoing 'CoopHousing' study were presented by the experts in charge of the project concerning Federabitazione's cooperatives building, selling and renting real estate across Italy.
    Over the first three months of the research, 53 interventions by cooperatives were registered, including 40% in northern Italy, in particular in the Lombardy and Veneto regions.
    The 53 operations concerned 1,532 housing units of which 67% were rentals and 33% owned.
    About 74% of the rented housing units were rent-controlled while 21% concerned rent-to-buy contracts.
    Overall, 184 million euros were invested in construction projects with 79% of financial resources coming from private investors.
    Some 16% of social housing interventions were recorded in city centers, 35% in outer urban areas and 45% in the suburbs.
    On average, apartments were rented for 57 euros per square meter with 83% of social housing contracts starting over the past 15 years.
    The first date back to the 1940s.
    The 'CoopHousing' survey is not only aimed at portraying the state of Federabitazione's social housing all over Italy but also at registering specific cases, the federation said.
    The study has so far revealed that this type of affordable housing is preferred by the young.
    Young families across the country - from Grosseto in Tuscany to Turin in Piedmont - choose social housing because it ''promotes the socialization of their children'' or because ''there is more social interaction'' in rent-controlled buildings.
    ''The value of socialization emerges in co-ops'', said the coordinator of 'CoopHousing', Salvatore Di Dio.
    ''Each context we have examined has adapted social housing to its territory''.
    The national project 'CoopHousing' ''has the objective of recognizing, mapping and telling the stories as well as good practices of residents to highlight the social value of initiatives and describe locations, data and experiences of our companies'', said the president of Federabitazione-Confcooperative, Alessandro Maggioni.
    Access to social housing ''needs to become a priority for governments'', noted Piergiorgio Vitillo, a professor of architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan.
    ''In Italy today less than 20% of real estate is rented and this determines social rigidity'', he concluded.
    ''Public policies must be reconsidered''.