Affordable Housing Policy as a Component of the European Integration Process
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35774/Keywords:
housing, housing policy, housing affordability, European integration, housing provision, right to an adequate standard of living, social inclusion, social housing, rental housing, preferential mortgage lending, state support, socially vulnerable groupsAbstract
The article is devoted to defining the policy of affordable housing. The purpose of the article is to reveal the essence of affordable housing policy as a component of the European integration process. The methodological basis of the article is a combination of general scientific and special legal methods. The dialectical method made it possible to examine affordable housing policy as a dynamic interdisciplinary category encompassing legal, social, economic, and urban planning aspects. The formal legal method was used to analyse national legislation, international instruments, and European standards in the field of housing provision. The comparative legal and systemic methods made it possible to compare the Ukrainian model of affordable housing policy with European approaches and to determine its place in the process of Ukraine’s European integration.
The relevance of the study of affordable housing policy is determined by the aggravation of the housing problem in the context of socio-economic transformations, rising real estate prices, the limited purchasing power of the population, and the intensification of migration processes caused by military and economic challenges. Under such conditions, housing provision becomes one of the key elements of social stability and the realization of the human right to an adequate standard of living. It is noted that the European approach to housing provision is based on a combination of the social responsibility of the state, market mechanisms, and institutional support for vulnerable groups of the population, which forms a new model of affordable housing as an element of social inclusion. In this regard, there is a need to reconsider the essence of affordable housing policy as an interdisciplinary category encompassing legal, economic, urban planning, and social aspects.
Systemic changes in Ukraine’s housing legislation and gradual harmonization with European approaches make it necessary to improve the scientific and theoretical foundations of this policy. It is determined that affordable housing policy should be regarded as a component of state housing policy of a mixed public-market type, which involves the formation of legal, financial-credit, and organizational mechanisms for providing citizens with housing. It is implemented through partial state co-financing, the development of preferential mortgage lending, the creation of conditions for reducing housing costs, and a social orientation toward supporting persons who need improved housing conditions. Its main elements include legal regulation of access to housing, financial instruments of state support, the development of social and rental housing stock, stimulation of housing construction, and measures to improve the energy efficiency of residential buildings.
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