Public Housing in Italy is governed by specific regulations established by the regional authorities – which, for example, have very strict rules regarding the assignment of dwellings – and predominantly involves public sector operators such as ALER (Azienda Lombarda Edilizia Residenziale – the Lombardy Region Social Housing Agency) and local authorities. Public Housing also deals with housing requirements starting from the most deprived social targets (controlled rent) up to those whose income is moderate but insufficient to afford market rents (affordable rent), making use of various forms of subsidies. The Social Housing Program within SIF (the Italian platform to fund private social and affordable housing), though developed in collaboration with public entities, is a private initiative that – because it is not based on external subsidies – starts from the concept of sustainability and aims to promote models of non-profit self-management of the dwellings and the services for residents. For this reason, the assignment of dwellings, the rental regime applied, and other factors relating to the projects are not the result of the application of regulations but, rather, are defined by the objective of maximizing interest from a specific target population segment – young couples, single-income families, students, the elderly, foreigners and/or other individuals in vulnerable conditions. A further objective is to create sustainable communities and sustainable investments for the ethical real-estate fund. Indeed, the ethical fund’s interventions will, in any case, be predominantly directed at residents with the requisite characteristics for affordable rent, thus reducing the number of people who put their names on the public waiting lists for the allocation of Public Housing.
