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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
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 Malta Purchase of second homes Pre-EU accession negotiations resulted in Malta retaining its legislation limiting the purchase of dwellings for second home use by non-nationals, who are required to obtain a permit which is only granted for one property and which is subject to qualifications such as the value of the property. Romania Law 114/1996, as amended Housing Law. Law 350/2001 Law on Territorial and Urban Planning. Law 7/1996 Law on Cadastre and real estate advertising. Law 152/1998 Law on the establishment of the National Housing Agency. Amendments to the civil code Introduces new provisions on the partition of properties held in common as a result of Law 10/1995, as amended Law on construction quality. inheritance. This is considered to be one of the main reasons why so many dwellings remain vacant (particularly those in urban cores). Law 460/2001 Law for the modification and completion of the Government Ordinance 20/1994 on decreasing the seismic risk of the existing building stock. Bill for the establishment of a central registry This will incorporate the public registry and the land registry. Law 325/2002 Law for the approval of the Government Ordinance 29/2000 on thermal rehabilitation of the existing housing stock and the promotion of energy conservation. Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disabilities) Act (2000) Includes various provisions related to accessibility of premises for persons with disability. Government Ordinance 19/1994, as amended Law regarding the investment stimulation for achieving public works and housing construction, with its later amendments. Netherlands Rental legislation and regulations Amendments to this legislation were introduced in 2003. As a result stipulations concerning rents in general and rents of dwellings have been updated and have all been incorporated into the Civil Code. With new rent legislation, legal constraints have been removed, the position of tenants vis-à-vis landlords has been strengthened and the rights of tenants with regard to their dwelling has improved. For example, tenants can now remedy defects by themselves if the landlord fails to do so. The costs involved may be passed on by them to the landlord or it may be subtracted from the rent. The Rent Subsidy Act was amended to streamline and modernise its implementation in order to improve effectiveness and user friendliness. From 2003 onwards, preparations are made to shift the implementation of the rent subsidy regulation in 2006 to the Taxation Service. Rent subsidy will then be part of the General Act on Income-Related Regulations. Act on the Promotion of Home-Ownership Enables low-income households to apply for a subsidy for buying a dwelling of their own. 2001 It is expected that this Act will be withdrawn due to the low number of applications for this subsidy. Law 330/2003 Law 254/2003 Government Decision 400/2003, as amended Law 15/2003 Law 380/2001 Law 243/2001 Law 241/2001 Law regarding the mortgage loans companies. Law regarding measures for the completion of the housing buildings started before 01/01/1990 and not finished before 01/07/2002. Regulation of the organisation and remit of the home-owner associations, with its later amendments. Law regarding the State support for young people for constructing a dwelling for their own occupancy. Law regarding loans granted by the State for the servicing of land for housing in rural areas. Law regarding the legal status of lands used for housing construction by the National Housing Agency. Law regarding the tenants and the determination of housing rents. Poland Law on Spatial Planning 2003 Creates a legal basis for a more coherent spatial planning process and standardises spatial documents in order to achieve a higher essential quality, simplifies spatial procedures and rationalises the location of public investment. These new measures will enhance the effectiveness of local plans, and replace the out-of-date general and local plans. Amendment to the Building Law 2003 Simplifies administrative procedures in the construction process, provides for the regularisation of the legal status of unauthorised dwellings, introduces compulsory inspections of completed structures and modifies the scope of competencies of public administration bodies. Slovakia Amendments to the Act on This Act governs the provision of preferential loans for a defined support purpose and for the State Housing Development Fund the limited income group of the population, with changes in particular in the field of the purposes and the conditions of the provision of State support as of January 2004. Ordinance on the Regulation of This has been in effect since January 2004 and represents a further deregulatory step Apartment Rental Prices towards the liberalisation of rent. Bill to amend the Act on the Ownership This draft legislation is intended to create conditions for the more efficient management of Apartments and Non-Residential of the housing stock in the ownership of the user. Premises Amendment to legislation on housing construction support 2001 Bill on housing construction support Since the middle of the 1990s, the construction of affordable rental housing by housing co-operatives and social housing organisations has been co-financed by preferential credit granted from National Housing Fund (NHF) resources. In order to address the shortage of funds in the NHF these amendments to legislation provide for the following interventions: the State housing bank (Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego) is empowered to take out preferential loans from international financial institutions such as the European Investment Bank or the Council of Europe Development Bank and transfer the funds to the NHF; the credit liabilities of the NHF can be sold to mortgage banks and other banks, apart from the State housing bank, can participate in the repayment of interest on commercial loans granted to local authorities for the provision of infrastructure necessary for housing development. This draft legislation provides for the simplification and acceleration of the procedures of preferential loan approval granted to investors. Amendment to the Act on Municipal This Act, as amended in 2002, imposes upon municipalities the obligation to co-operate Establishments in creating appropriate conditions for housing in the municipality and provides for the development and approval of local housing development programmes. Amendment to the Act on Non-Profit This amendment, introduced in 2002, allows non-profit organisations to be established Organisations for the purpose of providing generally beneficial services in the field of housing, and the management, maintenance and refurbishment of the housing stock; in this connection existing legal regulations in the competence of the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development of Slovakia were amended so that these organisations could gain State financial support for the construction of apartments. Slovenia Amendments to the Construction Act These stipulate provisions for building design, methods and procedures for obtaining (2002) building permits and construction. Amendments to the Spatial Planning Act These define the types, contents, hierarchy of planning documents, and the method of (2002) their preparation. They also define the instruments for the operational planning of development activities. They regulate spatial planning activities and the enforcement of implementation measures for the implementation of the planned spatial arrangements. 112 European Union Report Regular National Report on Housing Developments in European Countries 113
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Definition of Terms New Member Stat
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Section 1 Introduction and Summary
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Section 1 Introduction and Summary
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