Photo by Nomadic Julien on Unsplash
A seminar held in Warsaw has stressed the need to provide all European people with access to decent, sustainable and affordable housing.
Housing for all was the watchword highlighted at the seminar organised by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in cooperation with Poland’s European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) and Korczak University.
It was held under the auspices of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The event provided a platform for speakers and attendees to share experiences and best practices and stressed that housing in Europe should be social, affordable and accessible.
The seminar discussed the role of quality services of general interest in meeting needs in the field of housing and focused on specific categories of households that are unable to meet their housing needs at market conditions in urban or rural areas.
Krzysztof Stanisław Balon, Vice-President of the EESC’s Civil Society Organisations’ Group, emphasised that housing was a public good and called on the EU to act quickly and urgently to get Europe out of the housing crisis.
In this vein, EESC member Mateusz Szymanski added that housing should not be seen as a product like any other, where the laws of the market operate freely. He urged public authorities to be more active in the housing market and so reduce pressure on people by investing in social housing and helping those in need to rent and buy a home.
Professor Mirosław Grewiński, Rector of Korczak University, said that it was a mistake to consider housing as a private matter. He stressed that housing was instead a public matter and that it was important to make it more social, especially for young people and vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities, who often found housing inaccessible.
In a letter, Katarzyna Nowakowska, Poland’s Deputy Minister for Family, Labour and Social Policy, wrote that housing policy was a key element of social policy because access to housing was more than just having a roof over one’s head; it was the foundation of a stable life, security and opportunities for development. This was all the more true for people in more challenging life situations, such as older people, persons with disabilities, families with children and individuals experiencing homelessness, for whom it was vital to have supportive housing, which combined a safe place to live with appropriate social assistance.
On this matter, Ryszard Szarfenberg, Professor at the University of Warsaw and President of the Polish Committee of the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN), moderated a panel session with high-level representatives of several Polish civil society organisations on the legal and practical aspects of providing housing services to people with particular needs.
Agnieszka Maj from the Warsaw Centre for Social and Economic Research (CASE) said that to ensure affordability, sustainability and long-term stability, housing must be seen as essential social infrastructure, much like healthcare and education. This means expanding public-private-social partnerships and supporting non-market housing models that provide secure, affordable homes to those most in need.
Maj went on to describe the pilot scheme of social rental agencies in the Polish town of Dąbrowa Górnicza, which served as a tool complementing existing housing policies and bridging the gap between private landlords and tenants in need.
