housing developments in european countries - Department of ...

Section 3
Policies
Policies Section 3
Table 3.5.1
Country
International and EU Developments which have Implications for Housing
in European Countries
Actions arising from EU-level Developments
Czech Republic - Implementation of the EU Directive on ‘Energy Performance of Buildings.’
- Probable extension of EU Structural Funds to assist social housing and modernisation/renovation programmes.
- Population ageing and its consequences.
Finland - Finnish National Action Plans against Poverty and Social Exclusion, for 2001-2003 and 2003-2005.
- Act on Equal Treatment.
- Act on Admission of Immigrants to Finland.
- Urban II Programme.
- National Action Plans Against Poverty and Social Exclusion.
- EU Structural Funds for Objective 1 and 2 Areas.
Germany - Basel 2 at the European level which will impact on the housing sector in terms of the operation and financing of mortgage loans.
Ireland - Revision of Rules for Public Procurement to conform to EU Directives.
- EU Directive on Construction Products.
- National Spatial Strategy 2002-2020 (takes account of European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP)).
- Implementation of EU directive on energy performance of buildings.
Italy
- Issues related to long duration of legal proceedings regarding eviction and expropriation actions.
Lithuania - National Law on Construction amended to adhere to EU Directive on construction products.
Netherlands - Proposal by EU to exempt services of general economic interest from notification as State aid.
- EU Directive aimed at facilitating cross-border services.
- Implementation of EU Directive on building regulations.
- Preparations being made to bring regulations for housing associations, including fiscal regulations, into line with European
competition rulings.
Poland - Alteration of VAT rates for construction materials and introduction of VAT on development land to adhere to EU directives.
- Proposals of amendments to the Sixth Directive of the European Commission in 2003 (social policy).
- Possible extension of EU Structural Funds to assist social housing and modernisation/renovation programmes.
- Possible extension of URBAN Community Initiative to deprived urban areas in new EU member States.
Romania - UNECE Country Profile on the Romanian Housing Sector.
- Report of Round Table meeting in Bucharest in 2002; developments in the Romanian housing sector assessed and implementation of
recommendations evaluated.
- Guidelines on Condominium Ownership of Housing for Countries in Transition (UNECE, 2003).
- World Housing Strategy (Vancouver World Conference, Habitat I, 1976).
- Agenda 21" and Rio Declaration (Rio World Conference, 1992).
- Istanbul Declaration (Habitat II, 1996).
- Millennium Declaration – Istanbul +5 (New York, 2001).
- Johannesburg Declaration (World Summit for Sustainable Development, 2002).
- Guideline Principles for Sustainable Spatial Development of the European Continent (2002).
Slovakia - Harmonisation of building regulations to adhere to EU law.
- Legislation on building products amended to adhere to EU Directive on building products.
- Preparation of measures to implement EU Directive on the energy performance of buildings.
- Harmonisation of legal framework in the field of basic requirements for structures.
Slovenia - Requirement for more attention to be directed to housing within the framework of the acquis communitaire i.e. The entire body
of legislation of the European Communities and Union.
- Access to privileges and funds for acquiring rental housing and renewal.
Spain
- Preparing transposition of EU Directive on energy efficiency of buildings into Spanish regulations.
- Preparation of regulations on transparency of home loans to bring Spanish regulations into line with EU European Code of Conduct
and Recommendations on Home Loans.
- Refurbishment measures under the Housing Plan 2002-2005.
Sweden - EU legislation on taxation and State aid affecting housing policy.
- Introduction of VAT-based investment incentive delayed due to the necessity of notifying the European Commission.
Complaint made to EC in relation to aid allocated to Swedish municipalities/local authorities owning Municipal Housing
Co-operatives with high vacancy rates.
United Kingdom - Considering implications of EU Directive on unfair commercial practice.
- Implementation of EU Directive on energy performance of buildings.
3.6 Institutional Changes
In tandem with the policy, legislative and regulative
changes described earlier in this chapter, the last
number of years have also seen extensive changes in
the institutional framework for devising and
implementing housing policy in the some of countries
under review and less extensive reforms in others.
Generally speaking, the new EU member States fall
into the former category, and the long-standing
members into the latter.
As was mentioned in Section 2, in 2001 a new
Government came to power in Denmark which
initiated a number of significant reforms to housing
policies and implementation arrangements. The
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs was merged
with the Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs,
within which the former now acts as the National
Agency for Enterprise and Housing. It is responsible
for the regulation of housing construction and the
financing of non-profit housing associations including
rules on building and renting. In France, the most
significant institutional change pertinent to housing in
recent years relates to the delegation of housing finance
decision-making powers to groups within local and
regional government. This can be carried out on
request from 2005 within the context of the law on
local responsibility.
In the United Kingdom, a number of reforms have
recently been made to housing policy implementation
structures. In order to target investment to meet
differing regional and local priorities, the Regional
Housing Boards were established in February 2003.
The Boards submitted their first Strategies and
recommendations for allocations for 2004/05 and
2005/06 in July 2003. Subsequent to some
amendments, these were approved by Central
Government in October of the same year. In April
2003, a single Housing Inspectorate was formed to
examine the performance of both Local Authorities
and Registered Social Landlords in terms of social
housing management and services, housing conditions,
tackling homelessness, market analysis and devising
housing strategies to address the aforementioned
challenges.
Among the countries that acceded to European Union
membership in 2004, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia
have introduced a particularly large number of changes
to the formation and implementation of housing policy
in recent years. The Lithuanian Government is
planning to separate the housing policy formation and
implementation functions through the establishment of
the Housing Development Agency. The agency will
have the capacity to devise housing programmes and to
oversee their implementation and monitoring. In order
to ensure that this is done as efficiently as possible, the
agency will conduct objective market analysis using a
specially established, unified information system. It is
envisaged that these reforms will help to achieve more
efficient housing sector management.
Land and mortgage books are key to the operation of
the property market in Poland. These are registers kept
for each individual property by regional courts. They
consist of information on the property itself (plot
number, address, area, etc.) and on its legal status (i.e.
its present owner, mortgages and other encumbrances
or third parties’ rights). In January 2003, a pilot
programme to establish an electronic system of land
and mortgage books system was launched in six courts
in Poland. The process of the introduction of the
electronic system is operated within a larger project
which aims to create an integrated cadastral system. It
is envisaged that these new arrangements will, over
time, be extended to the 337 Polish courts which
currently utilise land and mortgage books in their
work. The new system should dramatically cut down
on the time needed to register title or mortgage, thus
making the market safer, more efficient and
accelerating property transactions. Investors and
creditors will have basic property data available from
the central information office without needing to
obtain them from local courts. As changes will be
entered promptly, the contents of electronic land and
mortgage books will be more up-to-date and reliable
than is the case at present.
In Slovakia three particularly significant institutional
changes pertinent to housing have been introduced in
recent years. In June 2003, the Slovakian Ministry of
Construction and Regional Development took over
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Regular National Report on Housing Developments in European Countries
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