housing developments in european countries - Department of ...

Section 3
Policies
Policies Section 3
Table 3.3.1
continued
Table 3.3.1
continued
Country Title or Focus of the Legislation Function of the legislation
France Law Number 2003-590 of 2 July 2003 Introduces a short-term response to the problem of lack of land. Regulates the safety of
Urban planning and housing
lifts by instituting three obligations: upgrading of old lifts, maintenance of the lifts by a
qualified service provider and periodic technical checks of the lifts. Contains a number of
provisions in relation to the participation of employers and the public housing unit
organisations (HLM organisations) in increasing housing output.
Law Number 2003-710 of 2 August 2003 Contains four titles which are dedicated respectively to town policy and urban renewal, to
on orientation and programming for economic development of priority areas, to the procedure for personal recovery from
towns and urban renewal
insolvency and to various stipulations, in particular those relating to the guarantee funds
for social rental housing and the reform of the public housing unit limited companies
(HLM limited companies).
Decree Number 2004-123 of 9 February Legislates for measures intended to improve the profitability of rental investment in certain
2004 in relation to the National Agency areas, where private rented dwellings are in short supply and rents are increasing. Provides
for urban renewal
for the reassessment of rent levels in these areas. Applies tax incentives to the purchase
of old housing for restoration, provided the work in question is professionally certified.
Germany Budget Support Act 2003 Reforms tax incentives promoting home ownership with effect from 1 January 2004.
These re-orientate the emphasis of the home ownership grant from promoting new
housing construction to promoting the purchase of dwellings from the existing housing
stock.
Ireland Private Rented Residential Tenancies Act This Act: establishes a Private Residential Tenancies Board to deal with disputes between
2004 private sector landlords and tenants, including those relating to rent, termination of
tenancies and breaches of tenancy agreement, and to provide related advice and
information; provides for greater security of tenure – a tenant whose tenancy has not
been terminated in the first 6 months, will have a right to continue in occupation for the
remainder of a 4-year period unless the landlord needs possession of the dwelling for
specified reasons. In addition, under the terms of this Act, the tenant may terminate the
tenancy at any time, subject to giving the required notice. However, the length of the
notice required will be graduated depending on length of tenancy, from a minimum of 4
weeks to a maximum of 16 weeks and rents cannot be higher than the market rent and
can only be reviewed once a year unless the dwelling has been improved, and landlords
are required to register the details of all tenancies with the Private Residential Tenancies
Board.
Amendments to Part V of the Planning Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000 obliges local authorities to prepare
and Development Act 2000
housing strategies as part of their development plans. The strategies assess the need for
housing generally in each local authority area, including the need for social rented housing
and affordable housing for sale at less than market value to low and moderate income
households. On the basis of this assessment local authorities are empowered to require
that up to 20% of new housing developments are employed to meet social and affordable
housing needs. This will also ensure that in future much of new social housing will be
located in mixed tenure estates. As a result of the amendments, the provision that many
planning permissions granted before the 2000 Act would wither at 31 December 2002
and during 2003 was removed in the interest of ensuring a continued supply of housing.
A levy on all developments carried out using these planning permissions was introduced
to fund increased social and affordable housing output.
Italy Fiscal legislation This provides for the deduction from personal income tax of a percentage spread over ten
years, of the cost sustained for maintenance and restructuring works, as well as reduced
VAT, and for tax benefits for the purchase of a first home, as well as for restructuring and
the purchase of restructured properties.
Building legislation
Fostering limited energy consumption, the static safety of buildings, and the safeguard
against illegal acts.
Law 21/2001
State financing of three action programmes in the field of public housing aimed at the
construction and recovery of dwellings.
Latvia Legislative changes intended to protect A number of legislative reforms in this area have been introduced in recent years. These
socially excluded groups against the include legal provisions enacted in 2002 that prohibit the eviction of families with children
loss of housing
on the basis of unsettled rent and public utilities payments unless another dwelling has
been provided; a definition of the status of social housing that was introduced in 1997
along with the criteria and procedure for assigning such housing; since 1995
municipalities must grant housing benefits to families who are unable to fully cover rental
and utilities payments and since November 2003, the Law on Municipal Assistance in
Solving Apartment-Related Problems has also regulated the Central Government’s
financial involvement in this process.
Lithuania The Law on State Support to Acquire Implementation of the Lithuanian Housing Strategy.
or Rent Housing
Law on Construction
Luxembourg Law of 30 July 2002 Legislates for tax measures aimed at encouraging the sale and purchase of sites and
apartment blocks. These include: the introduction of a tax allowance on the registration
rights and transcription rights for all persons wishing to acquire a block of apartments for
residential use and the application of a super-reduced VAT rate (3%) on building and
renovation work on main residences. From the enactment of the legislation until the end
of 2004, capital gains tax on the sale of land or apartment blocks will be reduced to 25%
of the average taxation rate; the tax collected on the sale of land or apartments blocks by
persons in the trader's scheme will be reduced to .25 of the global taxation rate. These
reductions also apply to land sales by developers. In addition, the accelerated amortisation
rate on rented apartment blocks as private property has been increased from 4% to 6%.
Law of 8 November 2002
This legislation includes the following; increases the finance available to public developers
for the construction or purchase of dwellings to 70% or 75%; in order to encourage a
social mix, requires that every new housing development includes at least 10% rental
housing; provides for government funding of up to 70% of the costs of developing play
areas and green areas in order to encourage more interaction among residents of housing
developments; provides for government funding of up to 50% of the costs of
constructing care and education facilities in housing estates; provides for government
contributions of up to 100% of the cost of providing housing for foreign workers, asylum
seekers, students, trainees or apprentices, persons in continuing education, scientists or
experts on temporary assignments; in addition the State can contribute up to 40% of the
price of building or purchasing housing for foreign workers arranged by an employer for
its employees; provides for State contributions of up to 75% of the construction price or
purchase price of rental housing arranged by non-profit organisations of any type which
have reached an agreement with the government, civil hospices or social offices;
introduces assistance for the finance security deposit for tenants – this involves a
certificate in which the State undertakes to pay the lessor the amount of the security
deposit if the deposit is claimed and/or the State acts as guarantor for all or some of the
bank loan issued by a financial institution for the purpose of a security deposit; reactivates
the general housing assistance scheme originally established in 1979 – under this new
scheme the State will pay a €100 to a savings account for each new-born child.
Bill Number 5216 on leases
This Bill establishes a uniform system for setting rents on all medium sized dwellings,
for main residences
regardless of the date of construction and includes a number of measures intended to
professionalise the operations of rent commissions such as the introduction of arbitration
and new regulations to deal with the extension of the leases and abandonment of
dwellings by tenants.
Luxembourg regulation of 9 April 2003 Amends long-standing regulations regarding housing grants and subsidies, in order to put
all income groups on an equal footing in the allocation of the grant and to expand
eligibility to include persons with an average income.
Luxembourg regulation of 7 July 2003 Changes the maximum rate for debtor interest for social mortgages.
Luxembourg regulation of 7 March 2003 Introduces new rules on the composition and the working of the commission that grants,
refuses or restores housing aid.
Luxembourg regulation of 31 March 2004 Legislates for the implementation of the 8th programme for the construction of subsidised
housing developments as well as State contributions.
110 European Union Report
Regular National Report on Housing Developments in European Countries
111