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On 13 January, I attended a meeting on “The Communities of our Future: Housing, Migration and Integration” organised by our member Housing Europe together with the European Parliament’s committee on Civil Liberties, Justice & Home Affairs (LIBE). The meeting gave a great overview of the current challenges and pressures that the housing system faces in Europe today; actions taken in light of the current migration situation and the scope for the EU to promote, intervene and assist on these particular issue were key themes.

Sorcha Edwards, Secretary-General of Housing Europe opened the meeting by calling for the need for collaboration and creativity in solving housing challenges, and for the EU to take positive measures in this regard. Claude Moraes, Chair of the LIBE committee, further highlighted the need to focus on social integration in housing and pinpointed the role of the European Parliament in improving EU legislation, and especially sharing best practices on integration and housing. He also announced that the European Parliament report on “the situation in the Mediterranean and the need for a holistic EU approach to migration” includes input from Housing Europe, and will be published on 18 January.

Initiatives by EU Member States to manage the current challenges were shared by representatives from the city of Vienna, Housing Europe members and other social housing organisations. The different approaches ranged from the reduction of housing costs, to the transformation of buildings for housing purposes, and an initiative focusing on housing and the prevention of extremism and tensions.

Antoine Savary, Deputy Head of the European Commission unit dealing with legal migration and integration announced that the an Action Plan on Integration will be published in April 2016. He stated that integration is the key to turning the current ‘crisis’ into an opportunity, and stressed that Europe absolutely needs migrants. Susanne Caarls from the Dutch Ministry of Interior and a representative of the Dutch EU Presidency told participants about a newly-established partnership with housing stakeholders, and the new EU Urban Agenda that sets out an ambition to give cities a stronger voice. The speakers supported the role of the EU in promoting housing, improving existing legislation supporting social housing and sharing best practices, both at a local and national level, to promote better standards across the EU.

Other interesting discussions included the importance of involving the private housing sector in providing housing for migrants, although the sector often fears that this may come with additional responsibilities, such as having to provide further services like caring for migrants’ psychological well-being. Shrinking cities – those that have become less attractive and prosperous leading to people moving away and leaving houses unoccupied – were mentioned as a housing opportunity for migrants, but questions about integration obstacles were raised as these cities tend to suffer from a lack of facilities, opportunities and social services. Housing is closely linked to integration in terms of segregation and ghettoisation; therefore, a key aim should be to achieve inclusive housing where locals and migrants can live together.

The meeting made me think about other examples of inclusive housing, such as the German ‘Refugees Welcome‘ initiative where people in Europe can invite refugees to stay in their private homes. This is a great opportunity to enable refugees and migrants the chance to become part of the community. There needs to be many more creative initiatives like this in order to achieve extensive integration, and they should also apply to other people such as students or older persons who may have a hard time accessing housing.

See also the position paper from our member Housing Europe on ‘The Communities of our Future: Housing, Migration and Integration’