La regione Emilia-Romagna avvia un piano-casa da 300 milioni

In Emilia-Romagna, the regional government has launched a €300 million Regional Housing Plan, aiming to provide 5,000 public housing units over the next five years. The project, financed by €50 million from the region and €50 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), will create 1,100 ex-Erp (popular housing) units to be handed over to tenants by September.

The plan involves repaying a 30-year European Investment Bank (Bei) loan, which will be drawn upon once the region begins receiving positive cash flows from mortgage payments. As municipalities submit applications for the reconstruction or energy-efficient renovation of popular housing, the plan will continue to progress.

To qualify for the popular housing (Erp), families must have an annual income between €8,000 and €35,000, placing them in the "grey zone" between social housing and market-rate rents. The region will pay for the reconstruction and, in exchange, municipalities will cede 30-year rent subsidies to the region.

Emilia-Romagna has already collected data on the region's "dormant" public housing units, which can now be used to target municipalities most interested in reconstructing public housing. The region has published a second call for applications to assess the real interest of families in renting the reconstructed units, ensuring that each reconstructed unit is already associated with a future tenant.

The ultimate goal is to have all 5,000 units ready by the end of the plan, with the Bei loan covering the entire cost. The region expects monthly mortgage payments to be around €350 for a 70-square-meter unit, with monthly housing costs not exceeding 20% of a family's net income. The second phase of the plan involves constructing new popular housing units, potentially involving private investors in conjunction with the national housing plan and Invimit, the savings management company dedicated to the valorization and regeneration of public property.