Although I live in the USA, I am keenly aware of what is taking place in other countries. When I lived in Germany I spent several weeks in the UK looking at the social housing systems, programs and challenges. Of special interest to me were the welfare reforms affecting social housing associations. That included the bedroom tax,… Read More Social Housing and Process Improvement: Is it Time for the UK to Go Lean?
Last Saturday, somewhere in the neighborhood of 12,000 refugees arrived in Munich in one single day. The large number puts a punctuation point on what is quickly becoming a race against time to find, build and provide enough housing for the new arrivals especially before winter comes. The German government decided last week to commit… Read More Social Housing’s role in the German Refugee Crisis
Overview The population of Cologne is around 1.016 million. That makes the city around the 4th biggest in the entire country. Population estimates show that Cologne is expected to grow in the upcoming years. I believe the prognoses that are out there now will change dramatically and believing anything right now is dangerous. With the… Read More Cologne Social Housing- Tale of a Growing City
Woonbond is a large tenants rights organization based in Amsterdam. The company considers itself the voice of renters from throughout the country. More than half of the residents in social housing are somehow connected to Woonbond through its membership and advocacy. That’s more than 1.5 million members or 53% of all tenants in Holland. Woonbond’s… Read More Woonbond: Representing the Tenants of the Netherlands
Recently I met with the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations. The discussion revolved around changes in the social housing industry and what roles will change starting July 1st. The department within the Ministry focuses on the entire housing market including owner occupied housing, social housing and the private market. Both Roger and Simone work… Read More A Brief Explanation of Changes in Dutch Social Housing from July 1st 2015
Berlin is known as a dynamic city with reasonable costs of living compared to other European capitals. Because of this reputation, Berlin’s population over the last decade grew while inflicting new pressures on the increasingly tight housing market. Once a city where a flat could be had for a few hundred euro’s a month is… Read More Social Housing in Berlin: The Sexy City That is No Longer Poor
Hamburg growth in the 1980’s was not as strong as other areas of Germany because of structural changes. Since the 90s, the picture has changed. With the unification of Germany, Hamburg made economic strides, especially in international trading and business. Hamburg is also seen as an attractive city independently of its development of knowledge and service centers.… Read More Social Housing In Hamburg Part I
Article: The Finnish Homeless Strategy Summarized by Josh Crites Overview Finland recently completed a second phase of a national program intended to dramatically reduce homelessness. What is different with the Finnish approach is the country came together to create a national strategy with a total effort on using the Housing First model. The summary report… Read More Strategic Planning and Homelessness: Finland, the UK, the USA and Sweden
I am truly lucky for this year abroad researching and looking at social housing and homeless programs in Germany and the EU. The world is increasingly more global and sharing of best practices can not be limited to country borders. As I researched homeless programs in Germany, I came across the name of a Dr.… Read More Housing First in Europe- 5 Short Summaries of Test Sites
What to do when a tenant owes money to the housing authority? The question is typical and we face it on a regular basis. Many times the money spent to collect is more than the actual debt. In other situations, the tenant is in a bad situation and we want to work around it. If it is… Read More Work for Repayment of rent arrears? An example from Hungary.
Housing Futures 