Establishment of MUNICIPAL/CITY HOUSING AGENCIES

The reform of the housing sector in Serbia has been initialized through the transformation of Solidarity Funds for Housing Construction into Municipal Housing Agencies, as the basic implementing instruments of a new social housing system in the country.

The model of MHAs is introduced at wider national level through the draft Social Housing Law, which is being prepared by the Ministry for Capital Investments. MHA is considered as the first basic form of non-profit housing organization which is assigned for implementation / development and management of social housing programmes.
Principles and guidelines for establishment of MHAs were formulated with the wider participation of local authorities, professionals and politicians, representatives of the national government and national housing experts with the technical assistance of UN-HABITAT. Those principles are fully built into the statutory documents of all MHAs, as well as into the draft Social Housing Law.

>> MUNICIPAL / CITY HOUSING AGENCIES IN SERBIA

Delivery of 670 housing solutions to low-income refugees and other vulnerable households

Equally divided between the 7 Municipalities of Cacak, Kraljevo, Kragujevac, Nis, Pancevo, Stara Pazova and Valjevo, the 670 housing solutions will be delivered with different tenure options, sustainable and transparent cost recovery and subsidy schemes. 530 (80%) of these housing solutions will be new constructions delivered under the responsibility of Municipal Housing Agencies.
140 (20%) housing solutions will be alternative solutions to new constructions and/or solutions mobilizing innovative partnerships.

Size of new housing units will be between 25 m2 and 50 m2 in two to four storey, multi-family buildings with basic standards. Two different options for new housing units will be developed with different cost-recovery and subsidy schemes: public subsidised rental and property transferred option. The share of the two options will be decided at local level, after evaluation of individual repayment capacities based on accurate survey of applicant beneficiaries.
Cost recovery is the basic principle for sustainable development of the social housing system but different subsidies will be applied to make it affordable to targeted beneficiaries.

Formulation of National and Municipal/City Housing Strategies with development of appropriate tools and capacities for implementation

Housing for low-income and vulnerable families represents just one segment of the housing market and cannot be considered separately from other components. In this perspective, related National Strategy and Action Plan should be part of a broader policy framework for housing that will address general and essential issues for all categories. The Ministry of Capital Investment already started some initial work to develop concepts and outlines of this policy framework. The project is providing support to the Ministry to establish sustainable capacities for policy formulation and monitoring and to finalize the overall concept paper and guidelines for the formation of the policy framework.
The project will further support the Ministry to formulate specific policy elements addressing the needs of refugees, low-income and vulnerable households. These elements will constitute the National Strategy and Action Plan for Social Housing.
The National Strategy and Action Plan for Social Housing will be established through consultative process involving experts and decision-makers from relevant central and city institutions, finance institutions, researchers and practitioners, and representatives from the private sector and the civil society.

At Municipal level and based on the guidelines prepared by the Ministry for Capital Investments with SIRP support, seven Municipal/City Housing Strategies will be prepared by Municipal Housing Agencies under the responsibility of the Municipal Administration and following an extended consultative process.

Social Housing Units / WHO CAN APPLY

The new housing constructions are intended for refugees and former refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina and local population with housing needs. Members of the above mentioned groups who have certificate of residency in the Municipality, who have applied for citizenship in SCG by the date of application, and do not possess an apartment on the SCG territory have the right to apply for these housing units.

The process related to the selection of beneficiaries started in early October 2005 by the dissemination of brochures with basic information on housing programmes that will be implemented in each Municipality. The information has been distributed from all relevant points at local level, such as municipal authorities, Office of the Trustee for Refugees, Municipal Housing Agencies, Center for Social Work, relevant NGOs and CBOs and at national level: Commissariat for Refugees, Ministry for Capital Investments, UNHCR, relevant NGOs and CBOs).

The Rules and Criteria for the Beneficiaries Selection, together with all necessary accompanying forms, such as advertisements, application forms, tenancy and contracts for purchase of apartments, are being prepared. Thеse documents are formulated in accordance with the MHA’s Statute, local legal regulations, Council of Europe, UNHCR and SDC guidelines, and the practice of local Centers for Social Work. The complete process and methodology are being prepared in a participatory process with all the parties involved.

Innovative concept architectural designs for Social Housing

Municipal / City Housing Agencies, in collaboration with UN-HABITAT and the Association of Architects of Serbia, have organized open competitions of ideas for social housing projects. The general programme of the competitions promotes innovative and different approaches for the design of social housing solutions, to contribute to the experimentation and development of European best practices in design and construction and implement pilot projects in Serbian Municipalities, in accordance with national and local regulations.
All submitted works are examined by an expert jury composed of representatives of the Ministry for Capital Investments, City / Municipality, City / Municipal Housing Agency, UN-HABITAT SIRP, National Association of Architects.

Results of the competitions in:

KRAGUJEVAC
1st prize – Ana Marija Kovenc Vujić
2nd prize – Ivan Kucina, Nenad Katić
2nd prize – Ljiljana Momčilović, Radmila Simonović, Anica Ilijin

Results for Kragujevac [1.11MB]

STARA PAZOVA
2nd prize – Nenad Đokić, Miloš Đurasinović, Bojana Blažević, Lidija Živković
2nd prize – Ivan Kucina, Nenad Katić
3rd prize – Milica Durkovic, Jelena Gardašević
3rd prize – Ana Marija Kovenc Vujić

Results for Stara Pazova [996KB]

NIŠ
1st prize – Goran Jovanović
2nd prize – Jelena Dulanović, Tanja Jovanović
3rd prize – Tamara Petrović, Miloš Komlenić
3rd prize – Snežana Ignjatović

Results for Nis [1.04MB]

VALJEVO
1st prize – Zoran Abadić, Dušan Milovanović, Olja Jovanović
2nd prize – Marjan Đulinac, Borislav Petrović, Ivan Rašković, Aleksandar Tomić, Nada Jelić, Milan Stanković
3rd prize – Milorad Obradović, Ivan Obradović

Coming Soon...

KRALJEVO
1st prize – Zoran Ivković, Jelena Živković, Vesna Šunjikić, Nikola Stojković, Marko Ćirić
2nd prize - Miroslava Petrović Balubdžić
3rd prize - Ana Marija Kovenc Vujić

Results for Kraljevo [990KB]