| Published on | February 05, 2021 |
| Categories | General |
The President of SYVICOL, Emile Eicher, took part with the Minister of Housing and the Minister of the Interior in two evenings to present the Housing Pact 2.0. The two webinars, organized on February 1 and 2, each brought together around 100 participants online.
In the preamble, the Minister of Housing underlined the importance of collaboration between the State and the municipalities because “the challenge of affordable housing can only be met if we work together: it is a shared responsibility” . This is the reason why the municipalities were consulted and involved in the development of the Housing Pact 2.0., In order to come up with an instrument adapted to their needs. The President of SYVICOL, Emile Eicher, thanked the ministry for having involved the municipalities and SYVICOL at an early stage of its work, and expressed the wish that this dialogue will continue at the level of the implementation of the law. He underlined the fact that municipalities above all need professional advice in this area, which the new Pact provides through the housing adviser.
Henri Kox was confident that the legislative procedure will be completed before the summer of 2021 for a retroactive start of the Pact on January 1, 2021 and a duration until December 31, 2032.
Before getting to the heart of the matter, a video explaining the main operating principles of the Housing Pact 2.0. was screened. Then a first assessment was made of the test phase carried out with the municipalities of Wiltz, Mondorf-les-Bains and the intercommunal union “of Réidener Kanton”, which showed the need for some adjustments, particularly with regard to the mission of the advisor housing and governance of the local housing action program (hereafter PAL). The PAL is at the heart of the plan for the future Housing Pact 2.0. This is why it is important to engage the alderman college and the municipality’s technical service from the PAL reflection phase. On the basis of these encouraging results, the model for establishing the PAL is being finalized by the ministry and a vademecum should be available soon. On the other hand, the Ministry of Housing has developed with the intercommunal IT management union (SIGI) an IT application dedicated to the Housing Pact 2.0. in order to make it easier for municipalities to enter and manage the PAL as well as concrete projects that will be carried out as part of its implementation.
The participants then approached one by one the four main themes of these first workshops, namely the agreements – initial and implementation – the housing advisor, the local housing action program and financial contributions. Details on these different stages of the Housing Pact 2.0. were given by the ministry and participants were able to ask their questions each time.
Jean-Paul Schaaf, mayor of Ettelbruck and member of the SYVICOL committee, asked for details regarding the quota of hours allocated to the housing adviser to fulfill his mission within the framework of the initial agreement and the agreement of implementation, in particular as regards its distribution within the framework of cooperation between several municipalities. Simone Asselborn-Bintz also wondered about the possibilities of inter-municipal cooperation, when a municipality has already adopted its PAL and subsequently wishes to cooperate with another municipality, possibly by adopting a common PAL. The Minister replied that such a situation was perfectly possible, insofar as the PAL is designed as a flexible instrument that can be adapted according to the priorities and development of the municipality. Emile Eicher agreed with this, being of the opinion that inter-municipal cooperation has shown its advantages within the framework of the Climate Pact, for example, and that it has brought real added value. He thinks that the municipalities will be able to draw inspiration from this precedent within the framework of the Housing Pact 2.0.
Finally, the question of financial contributions gave rise to several exchanges between the participants. The Minister recalled that the aid granted under the future Housing Pact 2.0. is complementary to other existing state funding for municipalities, in particular with aid for stone. A municipality may receive a financial contribution as a project progresses, payment by installments being possible thanks to the submission of an interim report, but requests for financial contributions must imperatively enter one of the three categories predefined by law. Emile Eicher recalled on this subject the position of SYVICOL, which calls for the deletion of the minimum and maximum thresholds set for the different categories of measures. “The municipalities must be able to independently manage the financial contributions to which they can claim in return for the efforts they provide, and freely allocate them where they need it most” he indicated. The Minister replied that he was ready to discuss it.
At the end of the webinar, the president of SYVICOL recalled that it is urgent to lay the groundwork for the new system during the first half of this year, since the state contribution has been decreasing since 2017 and that a final payment will be made. in 2021.
The presentation shown during the webinars can be viewed here.
Photo: © Ministry of the Interior
–
