TOUR OF THE HABITAT WORLD SEEN BY CIVIL SOCIETY

Slovenia

#Mots-clés : Dernière mise à jour le 9 June 2019

URBANIZATION

SLOVENIA

History of cities – Heritage

Urban Housing

Rural Housing

LEGAL ASPECTS

Right to Housing

The Right to housing is recognised in the Slovenian Constitution.

According to the Article 78, the State shall create the conditions necessary to enable each citizen to obtain proper housing.

At the same time, a definition of an adequate dwelling was introduced in the housing law of the year 1991. An updated definition is established in the new housing law in 2003, wherein an apartment is adequate for living when it satisfies the building standards, has the residence permit and has to have a separate sleeping and living part (except in the cases of a flatlet), has to satisfy the dwelling needs of the owner of tenants in the common housekeeping and satisfy the surface normative under the regulations from the 87th article of this law (that is the article that defines the non for profit apartments).

Moreover, according to the Article 88 of the housing law, the entities responsible for the allocation of housing units for temporary solution for housing needs of socially vulnerable persons are the following: a municipality, the state, a public housing fund or a nonprofit housing organization. When a new housing unit becomes available, the service cross-checks the legitimization for allocation and subsequently rents it to whom the social burden is the heaviest, and under the condition that the size of the unit corresponds to the number of family members.

Slovenia has ratified the Revised European Social Charter on 07/05/1999 accepting 95 of the Revised Charter’s 98 paragraphs, including the Article 31 on the right to housing. Slovenia also ratified the Additional Protocol providing for a system of collective complaints on 07/05/1999, but has yet to make a declaration enabling national NGOs to submit complaints.

CETIM – publication COHRE (1)

Source : Housing Rights Watch (2)

Forced Eviction

Land Right

Land Grabbing

Vulnerable Groups

  • Homelessness
  • Joungpeople
  • Old people
  • Women

Some interesting practices

SOCIAL AND ECONOMICAL ASPECTS

Housing Market

According to INSEE, in 2007, 80% of Slovenian households owned their own homes (European average = 65%).

  • ERASES : Although some encouraging measures have been adopted, the authorities still did not guarantee the rights of certain inhabitants of the country, originating from other republics of former Yugoslavia and illegally removed from the Slovenian register of permanent residents in 1992. This situation resulted in violations of the economic and social rights of the persons concerned. Some of them have also been expelled from the country. (Source: Amnesty International – 2012 Report).
  • ROMS : Despite a number of positive measures by the authorities, the majority of Roma still did not have access to adequate housing. Many Roma lived in slums or makeshift camps, often isolated in rural areas, on land for which they had no guarantee of occupation. In informal settlements, they were not safe from forced evictions and had no access to public services, including sanitation. In some municipalities, Roma were forced to fetch water (for drinking, cooking and washing) from polluted rivers or from public taps at petrol stations and cemeteries.

Source: Amnesty International – Report 2012 (3)

Quality of Housing

Informal Housing / Slum / Homeless

ROLE OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES

Public Housing

Definition and situation in 2012

In Slovenia “social housing” is officially defined as “non-profit rental housing for people with low or medium incomes”. Currently, social housing represents about 6% of the national park. They are considered as new social housing, as opposed to the concept of social housing used before 1991 in the context of the previous socialist period. In 1991, two types of housing were established: social housing (provided by municipalities and targeting only very low incomes) and non-profit housing (for low- and middle-income households). These two programmes merged in 2003 (although different tenants continue to benefit from different arrangements), and in the same year the Housing Fund of the Republic of Slovenia was created. As a co-investor and partner in PPPs, the Housing Fund’s main task is to provide loans.

How does it work ?

Currently, social housing providers are municipalities and 60 registered non-profit organizations. Municipalities or groups of municipalities often create a municipal housing fund.

Non-profit rents may not exceed the prescribed limits, expressed as a percentage of the value of the housing unit. In addition, new tenants entering the sector must pay a participation fee (unless their income is particularly low). For service users whose incomes are below certain thresholds, the rent is divided between the tenant and the Municipal Housing Department.

To be eligible, tenants must be citizens of the Republic of Slovenia, be in a certain social housing situation and pay a participation fee and a security deposit. Priority is given to families with children, households with unemployed members, young individuals and families, people with disabilities and applicants whose profession or activity is important to the local community.

Source : CECODHAS Report 2012

ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS

Bibliography & Sitography

  1. The right to housing, CETIM – Download the report
  2. Slovenia, Amnesty International, Report 2010

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Major Problems

Major Claims

Civil Society Actors