Substrandard housing

CONTEXT

According to Law 18/2007 on the right to housing, substandard housing is any property used for housing without a habitability certificate or the conditions necessary to have it. Accordingly, it is a space that is used for housing but constructed outside of the established regulations.

Living in substandard housing may have two major types of consequences for health. On the one hand, living in a space with legal problems is a stress factor that could cause depression and emotional discomfort. On the other hand, substandard housing is often associated with inhabitability problems caused by the characteristics of the space, frequently the result of ventilation difficulties. These conditions may result in insalubrious situations that favour respiratory diseases and allergic reactions, sight problems and mental disorders, domestic accidents, gastrointestinal diseases and infections, air pollution and the proliferation of infestations of insects and/or rodents.

OBJECTIVE

Detect and resolve anomalous housing situations.
Guarantee decent housing in suitable conditions for the population.
Offer the best habitability conditions in these properties, until an alternative home can be found.

PROPOSALS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Proposals and recommendations for users

Inform the administration of the situation¹.
Improve the habitability conditions while suitable housing is being sought. In this sense it is necessary to:
- Guarantee minimum hygiene conditions.
- Favour the ventilation of the property and the natural lighting of interior spaces.
- Structure food storage spaces and good conditions for washing and for cleaning kitchen utensils. It is especially necessary to prevent the appearance of damp due to the lack of ventilation.

Proposals and recommendations for the administration

In accordance with Law 18/2007 on the right to housing, if the competent authority is aware of the presence of substandard housing it must open an administrative file to determine the facts upon which a ruling will be issued. In the case of substandard housing, improvements cannot be fostered in housing to meet the necessary legal conditions and, therefore, the opening of a file would end in eviction from the cohabitation unit and consequently in the need to find alternative accommodation. Accordingly, it is advisable for the identification of substandard housing to be related to hazardous situations and/or the lack of basic habitability conditions.

If there is technical and political positioning to deal with this situation, the following measures can be adopted. It should be taken into account that they will be need resources, given that their application will force the acting administration to house people who are in these situations. In this case, the following actions will be applicable:

Cessation of use orders or an eviction order or the closure of the home.
Expropriation of the home due to non-compliance with the duty to conserve and renovate, declaration of inhabitability, etc.
Declaration of right of first refusal and right of redemption areas or conservation and renovation areas when there is a high density of substandard housing.
Granting of aid to owners to resolve situations that are contrary to legal regulations.
Collaboration agreements with the competent social services to rehouse the affected people.
Subsidies for the administration of the necessary works.
Finding decent housing that is suitable for poorly housed families.

In certain cases, the declaration of substandard housing may be a tool of local bodies to deal with complex problems involving unlawful squatting (drug flats, drug plantations, etc.).

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1. It should be highlighted that in the case of a substandard housing situation there is no margin to improve the property to achieve habitability conditions and therefore the response from the administration should be eviction of the cohabitation unit. In this sense it is advisable to report cases in which substandard housing generates problems for the community or the health of residents.

REFERENCE EXPERIENCES

Information only available in Catalan

Pla d'Accions per a l'Habitatge a l'Hospitalet de Llobregat 2013-2015. La línia d'actuació número 10 proposa sobre mesures per evitar i controlar la sobreocupació dels habitatges i les situacions d'infrahabitatge.
Grup de Treball d’exclusió social del Consell de l'Habitatge Social de Barcelona. Document amb els resultats de les reunions de treball del Grup en relació a l´infrahabitatge, la sobreocupació i el assetjament immobiliari on és veu les diferències i les interrelacions que existeixen entre aquestes problemàtiques residencials.
Projecte Housign First – Sabadell. Aquesta prova pilot de la Generalitat proposa una alternativa al model actual allotjant directament persones que viuen al carrer o en infrahabitatge a un habitatge digne i permanent.
Plan General de Ordenación Urbana para Eliminar la Infravivienda – Ceuta. Un Pla General que, entre els seus objectius, es planteja eliminar l´infrahabitatge al municipi, garantint un habitatge de recanvi.

LEGISLATION

Llei 24/2015, del 29 de juliol, de mesures urgents per a afrontar l'emergència en l'àmbit de l'habitatge i la pobresa energètica.
Ley 8/2013, de 26 de junio, de rehabilitación, regeneración y renovación urbanas.
Decret 141/2012, de 30 d'octubre, pel qual es regulen les condicions mínimes d'habitabilitat dels habitatges i la cèdula d'habitabilitat.
Llei 18/2007, de 28 de desembre, del dret a l'habitatge.