Title: Study on Sustainable Regeneration in Suburbs – promoting social integration in deprived neighbourhoods through housing interventions by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
Client: European Commission DG Regio
Period: 12/2011 – 08/2013
Partners: ECORYS UK (consortium leader), London School of Economics (LSE), Ecorys Polska (consortium partners)
Stepan Ripka, Alina Muziol-Weclawowicz, Martin Lux (individual partners)
Description:
The European Commission has chosen a consortium of ECORYS UK as leading partner, London School of Economics and Metropolitan Research Institute to analyse how efficiently the use of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) was used for rehabilitation of socially backward neighbourhoods throughout housing interventions.
The research was based on detailed country studies and concrete case studies (10).
By the analysis it became obvious that even if the ERDF from 2007 (and from 2009 for the old member states) was able to finance housing interventions, only about half of the member states used this opportunity.
For the new member states it was an obligation of the EU to use ERDF for housing only in the framework of integrated urban development plan and targeted to neighbourhoods threatened by social and physical deterioration. In spite of that legal obligation only the Hungarian, Czech and Polish support system followed the rules more or less, the Baltic states provided individual building based subsidies for energy efficient interventions. For the old member states the use of ERDF for energy efficient interventions for the sake of social integration was eligible, and according to that multi-family social buildings were renewed in some of the old member states. France was the one which profited the most from the system.
In general we may state that the effect was ERDF was insignificant comparing to the amount of housing interventions and out of France non of the countries used it up to the possible limits.
This practice may change in the 2014-2020 period as the experiences are already settled and the pressure is bigger from the EU to implement energy efficient interventions even in the housing sphere. However the danger of using the funds without any integrated and focused approach is increasing unless the member states set strict rules and ringfence funds for more needy neighbourhoods.
Documents:
Housing investments supported by the European Regional Development Fund 2007-2013 – Housing in sustainable urban regeneration (synthesis report, pdf)
Case studies: Estonia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great-Britain, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland