Fondazione Housing Sociale (the “Foundation” or “FHS”) was set up to implement the Social Housing Program, a Fondazione Cariplo initiative for the promotion of social housing projects.
FHS solely pursues objectives of social solidarity and aims to contribute towards resolving the housing problems of families and other people, with particular emphasis on situations of economic and social vulnerability. FHS also aims to encourage the creation of housing contexts in which people, through their own direct and responsible participation, can be supported by an appropriate network of services and can experience positive relationships with the other residents in their community. FHS aims to promote, design, test out and, where necessary, manage all possible actions to create socially-orientated housing initiatives and dynamic community contexts.
In developing its own activity FHS has, generally speaking, taken on the role of promoting the social housing sector and of transferring good practices which have become widespread in other countries, mostly but not exclusively in Europe, to the point they now represent a very significant share of the residential real estate sector.

FHS works on projects, with the aim of creating new affordable dwellings and enabling the start-up of methods of non-profit social management of the dwellings. For this reason, its activity is focused on the setting up of each social housing project, on the management of the relationships between the various stakeholders involved, and on the design of new tools and organizational models.
FHS does not take responsibility for the management of the dwellings, nor does it take part in the dwelling assignment process. For this reason, FHS calls on a wide range of interlocutors but is unable to respond directly to those searching for a home: this role is the exclusive responsibility of the ‘social’ operators who take care of managing the dwellings, the community of residents, and the social and neighborhood services.

In carrying out its own activity, FHS organizes and offers the following types of services:
a) general services
b) basic services
c) additional services.
General Services are those aimed at the popularization of social housing, at training, and at the promotion of the sector.
Basic Services are those relating to the preliminary evaluation process and to the general orientation of a specific social housing intervention.
Additional Services relate to the activities of consultancy and assistance in the executive planning phase, of execution, of start-up and preparation of specific projects; consultancy activities and assistance of a financial nature; training activities, and the promotion of specific initiatives.

It is possible to apply for membership of FHS. Decisions on admissions rest with the FHS Board of Directors.

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.

They are mainly institutional investors, such as the FIA (Investment Fund for Housing) managed by CDPI Sgr SpA, insurance foundations, banks, and pension funds etc.

The ethical fund is a regular real-estate investment fund whose management rules contain restrictions to ensure that the fund is used exclusively for social housing interventions, that is it not speculative in nature, and that it develops its own investment activities in a way that is coherent with the aims of the SIF Social Housing Program. The fund is usually managed by Asset Management Companies that make decisions after discussing them before an advisory committee whose members are appointed by the fund’s investors. The fund has a limited lifespan, equivalent to 20-30 years, during which time it develops the social housing interventions, leases them principally for rent to the residents and then, when the time comes for the fund to be liquidated, sells the dwellings in accordance with the procedures established at the start of each project.

An ‘ethical’ fund is defined as a fund that adopts particular restrictions in its investment strategies to respect specific principles or objectives of a non-financial nature. For example, the FIL (Lombardy Ethical Real-Estate Fund) can invest in social housing interventions, offers investors a regulated financial return (set at 3% above the rate of inflation per year), and limits investors’ payable return to 5% above the rate of inflation should the return be higher than expected. In more general terms, the stakeholders involved in the Fund’s activities, first and foremost the management company, have all accepted particularly modest remuneration and participate with the aim of supporting socially responsible initiatives that have a significant impact on the territory.

The Fund is reserved for institutional investors: that is, investors who meet specific requisites that guarantee that they are in a position to independently assess the risks associated with the investment.

FHS is active throughout Italy.

FHS does not provide grants, this being an activity that is carried out directly by Fondazione Cariplo. Fondazione Cariplo is committed to private Social Housing, especially in the first and second phase, indicating each year in its own calls for proposals the type of projects that may be proposed to obtain funding, and how to do this. For other forms of contribution and subsidy, please consult the options offered by the Lombardy Region or other authorities.

The Program provides for the creation of small neighborhoods rather than just individual dwellings, neighborhoods within which the community organizes and manages not only the buildings, but also itself and neighborhood services. The residents thus benefit from regulated rents in a context that is rich in services, both of a social and commercial nature, and are asked to participate in the provision of such services (active participation is encouraged).

The housing mix, or ‘social project’, is one of the most important aspects in the success of social housing initiatives. Lack of diversification in an intervention can easily give rise to the so-called ‘ghetto’ effect; one that is too diversified can complicate the formation of a true community. The residential mix is defined during the initial planning phases, together with the entity that makes available the areas for the intervention (typically a Municipality); the mix of tenants that FHS seeks to attract are young couples, single-income families, students, seniors, foreigners, and other individuals in vulnerable conditions, in order to create a diverse, balanced community. The residential and social mix can also be influenced by the operators who support the start-up of the new community of residents.

As mentioned above, the Foundation promotes projects but typically does not directly design, build, manage or allocate housing (this may only happen in exceptional cases). The allocation of dwellings is therefore the responsibility of the ‘social’ operators who take charge of the management of the dwellings. Under special circumstances and not in the short term, it may be possible to cede some of the dwellings to the residents.

Contracts for work and services are awarded by the ethical real-estate funds and, specifically, by the companies entrusted with asset management (SGR). The assignment criteria follow the general principles of the Program, and the commitments made with the entities that make the land available for the projects, such as those included in the agreements stipulated with the Municipalities. Generally speaking, tenders follow selection principles using competitive procedures, but there is no obligation to comply with the same procedures as public sector bodies.

FHS is not a bank and does not provide financing or guarantee transactions for third parties. In its own work, FHS can study instruments for accessing credit (for example by proposing them for implementation to regional authorities or other institutions), but even in this case it does not have the role of a direct provider of financing or guarantees.

FHS is not a bank and does not provide financing for third parties. As part of its activity, FHS may study instruments to access credit (for example proposing them for implementation to regional authorities or other institutions), but even in such cases it does not occupy the role of direct provider of financing. Real estate funds, also, do not provide loans, an activity that is prohibited under current law.

Yes, it can. As part of the implementation of a social housing project, there may be spaces available for use by third-sector entities. This will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.