Living Together in Reșița

Finished

‘Living Together in Reșița’ was a project funded by the Local Action Group (GAL, Grup de Acțiune Locală) Reșița, as part of efforts to regenerate marginalized urban areas in Reșița. The project aligns with the LAG strategy for the 2014-2020 programming period, which was implemented through a mix of integrated interventions to combat urban marginalization and poverty. The LAG Strategy was funded by EU programs through POR and POCU.

An important part of the strategy consisted of a mix of interventions to reduce housing deprivation among vulnerable groups in Reșița. Thus, in recent years, the Reșița City Hall has invested in the modernization and expansion of the city’s stock of social housing, both with financial support facilitated by GAL Reșița and with complementary government funding.

Apart from these hard interventions, ‘Living Together in Reșița’ also consisted of some soft components: accompanying the relocation process of families living in Mociur, in the buildings undergoing modernization, providing household appliances and kitchen equipment for vulnerable families from other marginalized areas of the city. MKBT specifically worked on the adjustment of the allocation grids for social housing and the drafting of maintenance regulations for social housing condominiums, aimed at improving landlord-tenant relations.

Thus, within the ‘Living Together in Reșița’ project, we were subcontracted by the Reșița City Hall, and ensured the following three outcomes:

  • We conducted a study analysis of the state and conditions of the public housing stock, specifically the legal framework regulating it, the number and quality of existing and planned housing, as well as the procedures for maintenance, allocation, and turnover of social housing. We identified the issues faced by the authorities in managing these buildings, the tenants occupying them, as well as potential tenants currently on the waiting lists for social housing. As a result of the study, we developed two documents that were adopted by the Reșița City Hall: the new allocation grid for social housing and a set of guidelines (user regulation) for the newly built social housing stock.

  • The allocation grid acknowledged and addressed a recurring issue in most cities in Romania: we lack a political culture that prioritizes the right to decent housing, and those eligible for social assistance are often stigmatized. As a result, allocation criteria do not always reflect the situations of vulnerable individuals. The allocation criteria were modified to prioritize people living in makeshift, substandard housing, without legal tenure, without access to basic utilities, in conditions that endanger their health and safety, or who are at risk of eviction. Additionally, criteria were introduced to address unexpected or difficult life situations, such as changes in health that affect housing needs, domestic violence, human trafficking, or cases of mono-parental families.

  • The guidelines/user regulation was developed as a response to the situation of public buildings, which, over the years, have deteriorated significantly, not only in Reșița but in most post-industrial Romanian cities. This has occurred due to a combination of factors: years of legal uncertainty regarding the buildings, a lack of budgets and maintenance procedures from the authorities, insufficient financial resources for tenants, and tension between tenants and the authorities. The regulation offers suggestions to ensure that the newly constructed social housing does not face the same fate: it establishes clear rights and obligations between the owner—the City Hall of Reșița—and the tenants, organizational procedures to facilitate harmonious living in apartment blocks, and communication procedures to prevent abusive situations for all parties involved. We developed the regulation after detailed research into international best practices in social housing, field research, and consultations with authorities and tenants.

The implementation period for the ‘Living Together in Reșița’, specifically for the component carried out by MKBT, was December 2022 to December 2023. The allocation criteria and maintenance regulation mentioned above were adopted through local council resolutions HCL no. 741 from December 28, 2023, and HCL no. 1 from February 11, 2024.


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