Apr 21 2020
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#StayAtHome and Europe’s housing crisis

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Housing Europe: a position paper: The COVID-19 pandemic exposes the shortcomings of our housing policies

Public, cooperative and social housing providers are mobilising to protect vulnerable people and the local economy in this time of crisis. Strong public support for essential services; housing, health, education, transport from governments and international bodies now more vital than ever.

#StayAtHome, #ZuHauseBleiben, #ResterChezVous, #RestateACasa, #QuédateEnCasa #MenoumeSpiti… the language is not so important, but the message is clear. Citizens around the globe are ordered, requested or recommended to stay at home- depending on the level of the measures taken by each government- contributing thus to the universal effort to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 spread. Confinement and social distancing are considered by most national authorities and by the EU Institutions as an effective way in getting this extraordinary global health crisis under control. Such a decision to implement a lockdown, keeping people at home, surely has multiple consequences but also brings to the  surface, once again, Europe’s housing crisis.

Concretely, #StayAtHome is easier said than done for a very large part of the EU population:

Housing Europe President, Cédric Van Styvendael stresses that:

“Anyone can easily understand that within this housing crisis that Europe has been confronted with for many years now, asking people to stay at home is far from than simple for many of them. We are proud that our sector plays the role of a much-needed safety net during this pandemic, while we also add our voice to international calls to stop evictions anywhere for any reason. More than ever, we are mobilized to make access to decent and affordable housing an essential right. We strongly believe that Europe’s Green Deal must be a social one and must imperatively integrate the challenge of reviving the production of social housing to accompany the unprecedented crisis we are facing.”

The UN Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha urged on March 18th governments around the world not to allow any evictions, anywhere for any reason as “housing is the front line defence against the COVID-19 outbreak”.

COVID-19 and the public, cooperative & social housing sector

Within this new global reality that impacts directly and hits hard the everyday work of public, cooperative and social housing providers, they are the safety net that millions of people around Europe desperately need at the moment. Below, we put together an overview of the actions taken so far to deal with these tough circumstances:

GdW, the Federal Association of Housing and Real Estate Companies, the umbrella organization of the relevant sectors in Germany along with their real estate sector partners issued a joint statement, stressing how coordinated partnerships are now more vital than ever. They have also called together with the Tenants’ Union for the introduction of “Secure housing funds” in times of crisis. Tenants who are not able to pay their rent or part of it due to COVID-19, should be eligible to apply for support on this new online platform that will be set up.

The Italian Cooperative Housing sector proposed exceptional preventative measures to support low income families paying their rent. In this difficult moment Legacoop Abitanti, one of the Italian Associations of Housing Cooperatives, expressed solidarity towards the most affected people and gratitude to those offering their commitment, including the Social Cooperation sector that has been close to the most vulnerable also during this state of emergency.

The Inhabitants Cooperation is playing its role at the service of the members, keeping some essential services and activating new forms of community resilience, which represents a distinctive sign of our history. #IoRestoaCasa (#WeStayAtHome) truly underlines the HOME question, and the need to re-think it. From an economic point of view, Legacoop Abitanti believes that the impact of the COVID-19 crisis will lead to further difficulties for vulnerable families to pay the rent, causing a very negative social effect in the medium term.

Legacoop Abitanti, through its President Rossana Zaccaria, expresses a positive evaluation about the effort of the Italian Decree “Cura Italia”, in order to face the public health emergency and to preserve both families’ and workers’ safety. However, concerning the Home question, the Decree provided measures referring exclusively to the mortgages (Art. 54) and the suspension of evictions until 30 June 2020 (Art 103, Paragraph 6). Legacoop Abitanti, together with the Alliance of Italian Cooperatives – Housing sector, proposes exceptional measures to support low-income tenants who will struggle in paying rents. Concretely, with an amendment to Art. 54 at the “Cura Italia” decree, they propose an increase of 50 million Euros of the existing “Fondo per morosità incolpevole” (Fund for tenants arrears – due to loss of income ) for year 2020: this can be done with a specific additional spending chapter, with an extension of the pool of the beneficiaries, including families renting both social housing and cooperative undivided property dwellings, since these perform a welfare function allowing the access to the renting market. This provision shall be a preventative measure, using the same operating procedures as for the management of the Fund, therefore with the immediate disbursement of the contribution directly to the landlords in order to avoid eviction procedures – a condition provided by the current mechanisms – for a maximum period of 6 months and covering 70% of the total amount of the rent and related costs. Legacoop truly believes that now the containment of the increase of social fragility is necessary, maintaining access to housing as an essential hub of welfare and community resilience.

Community Housing Cymru in Wales published a guide for housing associations coping with Coronavirus (COVID-19), which is continuously updated. From advice on managing availability of supplies to essential services to flexibility in grant & funding processes.

Union Sociale pour l’ Habitat in France issued a statement on the introduction of organizational measures to allow the seamless continuity of the service, announcing to examine the personal situations of tenants and delivery of customized support, likewise rental evictions are postponed. They have also published a Crisis Management Coronavirus Dossier for their members briefing on how to stay informed and communicate and continue support and care activities.

The National Housing Federation in England stressed in their press statement that ‘’No one should lose their home because of coronavirus’’

The Austrian Federation of Limited-Profit Housing Associations (GBV) urges members to follow a full stop on evictions and rent arrears.

Our Swedish cooperative member HSB shared their own coronavirus-related recommendations calling for coordination between housing associations and state responses.

Guidance and advice for the members of the Irish Council for Social Housing (ICSH) includes an extensive list of related resources.

Both in Ireland, according to the ICSH, and in Spain, according to AVS, rents will be adapted automatically based on income.

AVS believes that, now more than ever, having a large stock of public, social, and affordable housing, with professional and specialized providers, will be key to prevent thousands of families from being at risk of losing their homes. AVS sends a message of tranquility to the thousands of families who live for rent in the houses of the public park. Its members are taking measures in favour of tenants who have had a significant reduction in their income, due to the state of emergency in Spain.

In the Netherlands, the Association of Dutch Social Housing Companies, Aedes advised its members (managing more than 1/3 of the total housing stock in the country) to seek solutions for tenants who experience payment difficulties as a result of the corona crisis, to avoid evictions and to allow construction and maintenance activities to continue as much as possible, but only if health is guaranteed.

Macroeconomic responses and the housing dimension

The European Central Bank has announced a €750bn bond-buying programme. The central bank said all the extra asset purchases would be carried out this year and cover both sovereign bonds and corporate debt. This so-called Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme will last until the coronavirus crisis is judged to be over. For the purchases of public sector securities, the benchmark allocation across jurisdictions will continue to be the capital key of the national central banks. The Governing Council of the ECB committed to support all citizens of the euro area through this extremely challenging time, ensuring that all sectors of the economy can benefit from supportive financing conditions that enable them to absorb this shock. This applies equally to families, firms, banks and governments.

The European Commission agreed to loosen the State Aid rules, enabling Member States to be more flexible and effective in their support measures. The new Temporary Framework will enable Member States to (i) set up schemes direct grants (or tax advantages) up to €500,000 to a company, (ii) give subsidised State guarantees on bank loans, (iii) enable public and private loans with subsidised interest rates. Finally (iv), the new Temporary Framework will recognise the important role of the banking sector to deal with the economic effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, namely to channel aid to final customers, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises. The Temporary Framework makes clear that such aid is direct aid to the banks’ customers, not to the banks themselves. And it gives guidance on how to minimise any undue residual aid to the banks in line with EU rules.

Finally, the Eurogroup (ministers of the euro area member states) acknowledged in its statement the need for flexibility in the Stability and Growth Pact “to cater for unusual events outside the control of governments”.

This newly introduced flexibility is welcomed but must be extended to essential services such as housing providers whose value to society is clearer than ever at this time of crisis.

Apr 21 2020
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Hope for cooperative SMEs: EU Adopts Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative to combat COVID-19

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On the 30th of March, the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative has been adopted to ease Member States’ economic effort in the fight against COVID-19 outbreak. Cohesion funds can help SMEs, including industrial and service cooperatives.

European citizens are facing an unprecedented situation characterised by loss and suffering due to the outbreak of the new Coronavirus pandemic. While Italy and Spain seem to be the most affected countries in the EU and are facing the dire consequences of healthcare systems saturation and higher number of deaths, all Member States face severe public health distress and threats.

Most Governments have taken steps to limit the citizens’ ability to circulate and work, through social distancing strategies going from recommendations to mandatory self-isolation since the virus is still largely unknown to medical experts and a vaccine remains to be developed.

The economic consequences of this fight to protect public health are critical. For this reason, the European Union adopted two regulations that will allow Member States to quickly release funding from the EU budget for tackling the COVID-19 crisis. One of the acts amends the rules of the structural and investment funds, while the other widens the scope of the EU Solidarity Fund.

The Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative (CRII) will allow Member States to use EUR 37 billion of cohesion money to strengthen healthcare systems, as well as support small and medium-sized enterprises, short-term working schemes, and community-based services.

Funds from CRII can be used by Member States to support working capital of SMEs.

About €8 billion of the total amount will come from unspent 2019 cohesion money. “The new measure allows member states to spend unused money to mitigate the impact of the pandemic instead of returning it to the EU budget. Another €29 billion will be disbursed early from allocations which would have been due later this year”, the Council affirms.

All expenditure will be retroactive as of 1 February 2020 to cover costs already incurred.

The Council also amended the scope of the EU Solidarity Fund to include public health emergencies in addition to natural disasters.

Apr 21 2020
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COVID19: How cooperatives in industry and services are responding to the crisis

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An article written by CECOP, the European confederation of industrial & service #coops which represents 50,000 enterprises bringing democracy and solidarity within the workplace

While the world is facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis, cooperatives in industry and services are reorganizing themselves, finding strength in the people and communities they serve.

At the end of 2019, a new virus, known as Coronavirus or COVID-19, quickly spread around the world and the sheer number of people who have become ill represents a considerable stress test for the health systems in many countries. In the absence of a vaccine against the virus, many States have found themselves forced to take social distancing measures to flatten the curve of the spread of the virus. These measures have led to the closure of most businesses and services whose activities are not considered essential and have forced people to quarantine in their homes.

Overnight, many people have found themselves out of work and businesses do not have the staff needed to guarantee the same continuity of production and delivery of services to the public. Small and medium-sized enterprises, workers (and particularly the self-employed) were the first victims of a virus-crisis that has spread from the health sector to the many different economic sectors in each State. (Read more on the COVID-19 impact on SMEs)

While the virus is said to be egalitarian, hitting everyone indiscriminately, regardless of their social or economic status, the social and economic inequalities, which already exist in our societies, mean that the crisis is having a particularly devastating impact on the most vulnerable members of society. By losing their job as a result of the lockdown, people who are already at risk of poverty are losing their main source of income and being denied access to essential goods and services. People who are already vulnerable and marginalized are now suffering further from limited or even non-existent   access to health and social care and are being deprived of their network of support. Women workers are faced with a dual burden: not only do they represent 70 percent of the workforce in the healthcare system globally, they are now being forced to work longer shifts and to carry out additional work at home.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates a 6.7% loss of hours worked, which is equivalent to 230 million full-time workers, in the second quarter of the year due to the epidemic and also expect global unemployment to increase considerably during 2020. The latter will depend mainly on future developments and policy measures, according to the ILO.

From the four continents, CICOPA member organizations are calling upon States to deliver measures to help those workers affected by the crisis, particularly vulnerable workers, such as people with disabilities or workers in the informal economy, who were already in a vulnerable situation beforehand and are now suffering even more as a consequence of the crisis.

How are our cooperatives coping with the crisis? 

A post written by CECOP, the European confederation of industrial & service #coops which represents 50,000 enterprises bringing democracy and solidarity within the workplace

Despite the difficulties, cooperatives are demonstrating their ability to reorganize themselves, to reinvent themselves and to cooperate. (Read our solidarity message)

The need for a community-based economic model is vital in these moments. A model that serves its people and its communities and finds its strength in the support of those very same people and communities

In this context, worker and social cooperatives are carrying on doing what they have always done:  protecting their workers, responding to the needs of society and acting at the local level.

The following collection of initiatives that have been put in place by cooperatives in the industry and service sector around the world provides us with an opportunity for joint reflection, as well as a series of lessons from which we can learn and draw inspiration for the future. Because, rather than being an act of heroism in a time of crisis, cooperation is  a way of being every single day. (Read more: Covid-19 – time to rethink free market capitalism?)

COOPERATIVE INTITIATIVES AROUND EUROPE

Helping people in need is what cooperatives are and what they do.

  • In order to reach out to the thousands of migrants and foreigners in Italy and to make the measure taken by the government during the crisis accessible and understandable, the social cooperative, Arcà di Noé, has launched a multilingual campaign.
  • An example of responsibility and commitment comes from the Italian social cooperative Airone di Magenta, where thirteen employees have decided to confine themselves in the retirement home where they work to protect the elderly. “Our role is to protect them”, says the President Sabrina Sacanni.  (Read the article in Italian)
  • As well as all the services previously mentioned, CERCINA (Cooperative for Education, Rehabilitation, Empowerment and Inclusion in Nazaré, in Portugal), also provides a regional radio station, Rádio Nazaré. During the pandemic, the radio plays an important role as a public service agent, providing credible news and general information about COVID-19 and its consequences in terms of public health and economic impact. It is also a friendly companion for the elderly or the digitally excluded, since it helps to combat social isolation.
  • In Poland, the social cooperative “Równość”, which provides home delivery services, has launched the home delivery of blessed baskets for  people who were unable to  go to church to have their food blessed on  Holy Sunday due to the ban on large  church gatherings. This is a very important tradition for many Poles.
  • Very often, the fundamental role played by cooperatives in the fight against Coronavirus, particularly the provision of services and care to citizens, does not receive the headlines it deserves. However, health workers, social workers and educators now, more than ever, have a greater ethical and professional responsibility in the fight against COVID-19, while putting their own health at risk. (Read about the case of the Italian Cooperative La Macina in Italian)

Many worker cooperatives around the world have converted or adapted (part of) their production to produce personal protective equipment that can save many lives.

  • In Spain, a cooperative of the Mondragón group is adapting its production to manufacture 60 million masks over a six-month period. This project is part of the strategy to stimulate the national production of PPE for the healthcare sector. (Read more here in Spanish)
  • Inspired by the sixth cooperative principle, namely cooperation among cooperatives, 12 Italian cooperatives affiliated to Legacoop have joined forces to  launch the production of 400,000 cotton, washable masks for  people working in sectors that are still operating during the emergency. Coopfond, the promotion fund of Legacoop, is financing the project.
  • A similar initiative is taking place in Bulgaria, where 17 worker cooperatives, employing people with disabilities, are producing high quality face masks, whilst at the same time securing an income for a vulnerable category of workers.  (Read more here in Bulgarian)
  • Whilst on the subject of  masks and solidarity, the 58 members of the French worker cooperative SCOP TI, after ensuring the correct protection of workers, have decided to transfer their stock of protective equipment to medical personnel who have been in dire need of PPE since the epidemic began. Together with the masks, they  have also sent some boxes of their tea “to warm up” the medical staff whilst they are on  duty. (Read more here in French)
  • In Poland, the pharmaceutical worker cooperative ESPEFA, which has had to stop its activities, is in the process of obtaining permission to start production of disinfectant products in order to deliver them to hospitals and to the general public.
  • The primary objective of the Polish Social Cooperative “Centrum Aktywizacji Zawodowej” is to reintegrate people at risk of social exclusion and people with disabilities in the job market to ensure that they are able to work. The cooperative which,  in normal times, produces wooden decorations that are particularly popular during the wedding season, has decided to convert its production to the manufacturing of masks to be delivered for free to the local healthcare service. The atmosphere of mutual respect and mutual help promoted by the cooperative motivates its members’ self-development and integration within society. (Read more in Polish)
  • Worker cooperatives affiliated to our Czech member of the Union of Czech Production cooperatives, which are active in the clothing and chemical industry, have adapted their production to the actual needs dictated by the COVID-19 situation, starting with the production of textile protection masks and disinfectant products (Druchema cooperative) to be provided to private and public entities.

Solidarity and inter-cooperation are fundamentals of cooperatives and constitute two important values that help cooperatives to offer effective responses to the crisis.

  • In the city of Bergamo, which is the epicenter of the epidemic in Italy, hotels managed by social cooperatives have been converted into hospitals to free up beds. Inside the buildings, the all staff have been replaced by nurses. (See the video in French)
  • In these difficult times, drivers have to guarantee the delivery of food and medicines. In solidarity with another sector in  the frontline of this crisis,  the board members of Transcoop cooperative in the Emilia Romagna Region (Italy) have decided to donate 50,000 EUR to the local health service to help health care personnel in these difficult days.
  • In the UK, community cooperatives are reorganizing to ensure the provision of services and meals to the most vulnerable and self-isolated people in their community. A fine example of this approach is the Bevy Pub in Brighton which, following its  closure, decided to reallocate staff time to focus on what could be done and now organizes the delivery of hot meals for people in need.
  • The tourism sector is also suffering from the consequences of the lock down, but on the Platform coop start-up Fairbnb in Italy, hosts are offering accommodation to health workers and are looking to help communities rebuild. (Read more: Relief campaign launched by  Fairbnb in Italy)

Working from home? Do it cooperatively.

  • For those of you who are safe and healthy and would like to keep working cooperatively while at home, two worker cooperatives could provide the answer to your needs: check out Loomio or CObudget collaborative platforms.

CECOP MEMBER ORGANISATIONS’ MESSAGES and ACTIONS