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Households

Eviction risk

CONTEXT

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Not having a home or having one with a strong possibility of losing it affect both physical and mental health, causing diseases and conditions such as anxiety, depression, loneliness, emotional discomfort, schizophrenia, psychotic disorders and alcohol-related dementia.

The European Federation of Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA) established in 2005 a classification that enables a broader vision of homelessness, including housing exclusion situations. Accordingly, the federation’s ETHOS (European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion) classification establishes four major blocks:

  • Rooflessness: people who live in public spaces, in the open air, staying overnight at hostels and/or are forced to spend the rest of the day in public spaces.
  • Houselessness: people who live in temporary accommodation, which may be shelters for the homeless, women, immigrants or asylum seekers; or temporarily in residential institutions.
  • Living in insecure housing: people who live in insecure tenancy situations such as illegal occupation (squatting), living under the threat of eviction, or under the threat of family members or partners.
  • Living in inadequate housing: people who live in temporary or non-conventional structures, in housing not considered suitable in accordance with legislation (substandard housing) or overcrowded housing (see "Overcrowding" and "Substandard Housing").

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The roofless have a life expectancy of 58 years (30 years shorter than average). Seventy-nine percent of the homeless in Barcelona have between one and three chronic disorders.

With regard to the homeless, it is predicted that climate change may cause an increase in migratory movements to Catalonia. The increase in the number of homeless people may also be due to people in insecure or inadequate housing situations entering this category.

In the case of insecure housing, this may be a result, among other factors, of the eviction of people from their homes (owned or rented) without being able to properly exercise their right to be rehoused or receive other support from public administrations.

One such example is the emergency housing boards, which have completely collapsed and have waiting lists on which it takes people months to access social housing.

These people may be evicted without any alternative housing options unless their local body takes action like providing temporary rented accommodation in a home or hostel, providing rented accommodation with the support of the 60/40 programme implemented by the Catalan Housing Agency (AHC), etc. However, if these actions are not taken or are taken very late, these people could be condemned to housing exclusion.

In the case of people living in insecure housing, there is a high rate of squatting, in addition to the risk of eviction. Eviction situations may be even more serious if the corresponding administration does not have the resources established in legislation to ensure the right to housing.

Three major types of squatting can be distinguished:

  • Social squatting. It affects vulnerable people or families who are victims of housing exclusion and, in many cases, have lost their home.
  • Criminal squatting. This is undertaken by people who carry out unlawful activities in the occupied dwelling, such as drug dealing. They tend to be conflictive situations that are sometimes linked to criminal activities or landlord harassment. It should be taken into account that people in vulnerable situations may also live in such housing.
  • Ideological squatting. This is carried out by people who, despite having enough income to allow them to access housing, opt to squat in order to defend the right to housing.

Squatting (mainly social squatting) affects health in terms of anxiety and depression, and collateral risks such as burns or falls due to the lack of habitability or adequate health conditions. At the same time, squatting may involve living without basic utilities and therefore causes hygiene and energy poverty problems (see 5.1.4 Energy Poverty). To remedy these situations, attempts are often made to fraudulently connect utility services, which may cause accidents that affect the offenders or the entire building.

In relation to living under the threat of eviction, according to data from the General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), from 2008 to 2017 there were 585,047 evictions in Spain and 95,000 in Catalonia. This corresponds to an average of 58,505 evictions per year in Spain and 9,500 in Catalonia: 270 and 43 per day, respectively. Notwithstanding, it must be taken into account that the small amount of data available in this respect is not necessarily a true reflection of the situation, given that, among other factors, one thing is a court-ordered eviction and quite another thing is its execution. In Catalonia, the majority take place in the metropolitan territory of Barcelona and are linked to the residents’ inability to pay either their rent or their mortgage (foreclosures). People who are subject to eviction suffer heart problems, diabetes, depression, stress and anguish.

According to the report Radiografies de la situació del dret a l’habitatge, la pobresa energètica i el seu impacte en la salut de Barcelona [Snapshots of Housing Risk and Energy Poverty Situations and their Effect on Health in Barcelona], 82.3% of the men and 70% of the women surveyed in a housing exclusion situation (Law 24/2015 defines housing exclusion based on income and the risk of eviction) present poor mental health. These percentages are much higher than those of the general population of Barcelona (16.5% and 20.3%, respectively).

 

OBJECTIVE

  • Guarantee maintenance of the primary residence.
  • Anticipate and deal with eviction risk situations.
  • Improve the conditions of people in a rooflessness situation and help them become as autonomous as possible.
  • Address the problem of unauthorised squatting, the possible effects it may cause in the surrounding area and the mechanisms to deal with it.

PROPOSALS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Proposals and recommendations for residents

Prevention of eviction risk situations:

  • Contact the creditor or owner (financial institution, investment fund, etc.) to negotiate the restructuring of the mortgage or rent contract so that the mortgage or rent payments are compatible with the resident’s current income level. It is advisable in these cases to be able to renegotiate any possible non-payments. By way of example: mortgage payments or rent, residents association fees, and basic utilities.
    This renegotiation process does not exclude, although it is very difficult to achieve, the adoption of agreements to fully or partially forgive non-payments.
  • Address the local administration to request support and advice as soon as you are aware that you cannot make the mortgage or rent payments or when there are clear signs that legal action that could result in eviction is to be brought.
  • Contact consumer associations and/or third sector bodies and organisations to seek support and advice in order to play an active role in the resolution of the situation.

In a squatting situation:

  • Negotiate with the owner of the property the establishment of the payment of a social rent or a masoveria urbana contract (the dwelling is yielded by the owner for an agreed term in exchange for its rehabilitation and maintenance by the assignees).
  • Establish good relations with the rest of the residents to avoid additional pressure motivated by their ignorance of your situation.
  • Do not make unlawful connections to basic utilities (water, electricity and gas) due to the problems they may cause (accidents, overloading neighbouring installations, etc.). These problems may lead to express eviction for housing or building-safety reasons.
  • Address the local administration to inform them of your situation and ask for support and advice.
  • Look for mechanisms to regularise your situation or access new housing.


Proposals and recommendations for the local administration

Prevention of eviction risk situations:

  • Adapt (reinforce) the local social services and housing services to cater, either separately or in a coordinated manner, to people who ask for support regarding the risk of eviction (housing exclusion). Given that the solution to this type of situation lies in a multidisciplinary approach, it is advisable to include the employment service in the technical structure adaptation proposal.
  • Establish or reinforce the provision by the corresponding local services of support and supervision for those affected within an economic, social and employment support plan adapted to their needs and oriented to helping them recover full autonomy.
  • Reinforce local council programmes to supplement aid from other administrations, including aid for rent, emergency aid, unemployment subsidies, etc.
  • Expand the existing services to prepare for the inclusion of affected cohabitation units in the municipal services.
  • Improve coordination with the rest of the municipal, supra-local and legal services or reinforce mediation services in the scope of housing. This includes collaboration with the services of other administrations: the Barcelona Provincial Council Housing Debt Mediation Service (SIDH) or the Government of Catalonia Debt Mediation Service (Ofideute).
    These services facilitate mediation with the owner and the establishment of mechanisms to prevent eviction.
    These services currently offer advice for both rent and mortgage cases. The provinces of Barcelona and Girona, the provincial councils and the Government of Catalonia, in collaboration with the comarcal councils, provide this service with the participation of their corresponding bar associations.
  • Expand advice services in the scope of housing.

Dealing with eviction:

If, despite the application of preventive measures, eviction cannot be avoided, the following mechanisms can be activated:

  • Help the cohabitation unit leave the property in an orderly manner and gain access to residential resources.
  • Activate economic benefits to allow them to access new housing or, if necessary, access an emergency resource to house the cohabitation unit until stable accommodation can be found.
  • Have emergency residential resources available. Although the most desirable situation is to have permanent housing available for the rehousing of vulnerable cohabitation units that have been evicted, the administration may require emergency resources to handle certain situations:
    • Social emergency centres
    • Emergency temporary housing
    • Housing for social emergencies
    • Agreements with hotels or boarding houses

Dealing with rehousing:

  • Increase the number of affordable homes by establishing or reinforcing programmes designed to meet this goal. Among others:
    • Social housing. Construction or renovation of public housing for affordable or social rent.
    • Social Rent Mediation Network. Establishment or reinforcement of agreements with the AHC for the creation and management of a pool of rented accommodation.
    • Assignment of homes for affordable or social rent. Assigned dwellings may be owned by the administration (AHC), physically owned (privately) or legally owned (financial institutions, benefit fund, SAREB, etc.).
      They may include aid for the renovation of dwellings conditioned to their assignment.
  • Purchase dwellings to use for rehousing. The options in this case include the exercise of the right of first refusal (Decree-Law 1/2015) on dwellings from foreclosures and acquisition under the market value.
  • Increase the number of affordable homes by establishing or reinforcing the administrative programmes provided for in legal regulations:
    • Application of housing measures in relation to the detection of anomalous housing uses and situations in accordance with Article 41 of Law 18/2007, on the right to housing.
    • Compulsory transfer of empty dwellings, in accordance with Article 7 of Law 24/2015 or in accordance with Article 15 of Law 4/2016.

Actions in relation to unlawful squatting:

  • Redirect squatting situations to other housing alternatives in accordance with Additional Provision 13 of Law 4/2016:
    • Rehousing. Law 4/2016 establishes protective measures for the right to housing of people at the risk of social exclusion based on the obligation to offer housing solutions to vulnerable people.
    • Include occupied housing in the social rent pool and regularise squatting through a social rental contract.
    • Regularise squatting by means of a rental system with a masoveria urbana contract or another solution.
    • Rehouse the cohabitation unit in a dwelling that belongs to the social rental fund.
  • Actions to facilitate the resolution of cohabitation conflicts:
    • Intervene with a mediation team to facilitate the resolution of neighbour conflicts.
    • Training for residents associations to prevent illegal connections to the utility networks.
  • Penalise owners for poor housing conditions.

Actions to address the problem of roofless and/or homeless people:

  • Provide aid and resources for bodies and foundations that work with the homeless. This may include the creation of or support for a homeless care network.
  • Provide temporary emergency accommodation.
  • Organise public awareness campaigns and information campaigns for the homeless.

REFERENCE EXPERIENCES

Information only available in Catalan

 

 

 

LEGISLATION

  • Constitució Espanyola
  • Estatut d´Autonomia de Catalunya. Article 26, estableix que els poders públics han de desenvolupar per llei un sistema de mesures que garanteixi l´accés a un habitatge digne.
  • Llei 18/2007, de 28 de desembre. Regula l’accés de tota persona a un habitatge digne i adequat a les diverses etapes de la vida de cadascú. Aquesta llei preveu la creació d’habitatges destinats a polítiques socials i mesures per afavorir-ne l´accés a col·lectius vulnerables.
  • Decret 75/2014, de 27 de maig, del Pla pel dret a l´habitatge, defineix els habitatges d´inserció i estableix que es destini a persones amb problemes d´inserció i a llogateres d´infrahabitatges i d´habitatges sobreocupats. 
  • Llei 12/2007, d´11 d´octubre, defineix que la garantia de les necessitats bàsiques per la subsidència i la qualitat de vida de les persones recau en el conjunt d´intervencions que anomenen serveis socials.
  • Llei 13/2006, de 27 de juliol, regula les transferències públiques per fer front a les contingències que poden aparèixer al llarg de la vida
  • La Llei 24/2015, de 29 de juliol estableix una sèrie de mesures destinades a evitar els desnonaments que puguin derivar en una situació de manca d'habitatge.
  • El Decret 1/2015 de mesures extraordinàries i urgents per a la mobilització d’habitatges provinents d’execució hipotecària. crea el registre d’habitatges buits i d’habitatges ocupats sense títol habilitant, habilita el dret de tanteig i retracte de la Generalitat sobre habitatges provinents d’execucions hipotecàries, n’estableix una infracció específica per no conservació, execució forçosa de les obres necessàries i possibilitat d’expropiació temporal per entre 4 a 10 anys.
  • La Llei 4/2016, de 23 de desembre, de mesures de protecció del dret a l'habitatge de les persones en risc d'exclusió residencial.
  • Decret Llei 5/2019, de 5 de març, de mesures urgents per millorar l’accés a l’habitatge.

STUDIES AND TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION

OTHER LISTINGS OF THE GUIDE

  • On employment.
  • Infrahabitatge.

More information about addressing the Public Health Service: entornurbasalut@diba.cat

Date of last update:
dl., 10 de maig 2021 06:47:31 +0000