In Sicily there are too many empty houses, and a rent costs even more per month than the entire pension. In Palermo and Catania we spend more than 550 euros for a propertywhile the average pension is 542 euros. These are some of the data on housing hardship in Sicily, contained in a dossier presented by a group of organizations and trade unions from Sicily: CGIL, Sunia, Federconsumatori, Arci, Legambiente, Community of Sant’Egidio, Auser and Udu. The organizations have decided to give life to the “Living forum”, to build critical mass and obtain responses from the institutions.
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8.2% of families spend 40% of their money on housing
The housing emergency in Sicily fits into a context in which 11.3% of the population is affected absolute poverty and precarious and low-income work – 27% less than the Italian average, just over 16 thousand euros per year. In the In 2022 there were 10,733 evictions, counting those issued, those executed and requests for execution. The pending applications for the assignment of public housing in Sicily are 23,938. Rents also rise: 8.2% of people, compared to the national figure of 6.6%, live in families that spend more than 40% of their net income on housing and 5.5% live in a situation of overcrowding, in dilapidated environments, where health services are also lacking (Istat data 2022).
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In 2022, there were over 9.5 million empty houses in Italy
According to the latest available data, those of 2022, in Italy empty housesi.e. not permanently occupied, were 9 million and 589 thousand. AND in Sicily alone there are one million and 157 thousand uninhabited houses, a figure that includes both second homes, uninhabited ones and those used as accommodation facilities. Instead, he is the owner of the house 84.6% of residentsaccording to data collected by Suniawith the remaining 15.4% who have a regularly registered rental contract. And these are the weakest subjects: a average rent in Palermo for an 80 meter property squares is between 400 and 570 eurosa figure similar to that of Catania (between 400 and 560 euros), while a Messina they range from 350 to 500 euros. The Forum agrees with this fact the amount of the pension monthly average on the island, equal to 542.61 euros. In Sicily there are 959 thousand pensioners, and the amount of the pension is less than one thousand euros per month for 61% of women and 39% of men. The homeless and homeless are instead registered over 4 thousand.
Iacp: 50 thousand houses, often occupied without title
According to data collected by the Regional Infrastructure Department, updated to 2020, the public housing stock in Sicily includes 59,744 properties. Of these the Iacp (Autonomous public housing institute) have the largest share, with 50,572 properties. Followed by Sicilian region, at 4,111i Common which adds up to the total 2,898and it State at altitude 2.163. Properties often occupied without title. The record belongs to Palermo, where 27% of IACP properties were occupied illegally by 2022 according to data collected by Sunia. A percentage that drops to 24% in Catania and 10% in Messina. Despite this, by 2023 there were almost 24 thousand applications for access to public housing still to be disposed of. The Forum’s proposal – which also looks at the energy transition and falls within the line of “zero land consumption”- provides governance tools such as a regional housing department, but also, at the local level, social housing agencies, real control rooms and coordination between public entities, trade unions and third sector organisations. Financial instruments for economic support are requested for those evicted on medium-low incomes. But also urban redevelopment programs and public residential buildings with a social objective aimed at guaranteeing the right to live and the quality of living”.
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In Sicily too little is spent on the right to housing
For the acronyms of the Forum, despite the alarming picture, the institutions are however “at large” on the topic and the Sicilian Region, says the “Manifesto” of the Forum, “does not budget for adequate sums to mitigate housing hardship, nor to redevelop the public housing stock. Which has never regulated the complex matter of ERP”. While the per capita spending by municipalities in support of the right to live is negligibleespecially when compared to that of other Italian cities (Openpolis on municipal budgets 2021): a Ragusa spends 0.01 euros per inhabitant, in Genoa 58.26 euros (the two ends of the scale); to Catania 0.84 euros, in Bologna 33.31 euros. The Forum asks for one regional framework law on housing, which addresses the complex subject. And that includes a Observatory able to monitor the sector, in all its many aspects. “It is necessary to implement effective strategies to defeat the wall of indifference that obscures the problems,” says the manifesto.
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The huge wealth of assets stolen from the mafias
For the Forum you have to also go for the reuse of the huge public assets for housing purposes decommissioned with the creation of a specific database and provide for the use of assets confiscated from the mafia for residential purposes. According to data collected by the Forum from the National Agency for Seized and Confiscated Assets, the total of properties stolen from the mafia and destined for Italy is 19,998. Sicily is the region that has the most 7,854, 6,458 destined for local authorities. Of the latter the accommodation and similar already in the availability of Sicilian local authorities is 2,829. To these data are added the properties confiscated and under managementwhich amount in Italy at 22,112, of which 8,583 in Sicily. Those confiscated in a manner definitively there are 7,274, and 1,386 are accommodations.
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Few accommodations for non-resident students: only 5%
The Forum also asks the expansion of beds and accommodation for students: today the availability for off-site workers covers just over 5% and the guarantee of the right to housing for all those at risk of social exclusion. In short, there is a need for investments at all levels and “for urban planning – says the Manifesto – which does not respond to private speculative interests but which, at the service of the community, can guarantee the city and the territories the opportunity to combine development needs and social, environmental and economic sustainability”. The need to support regional policies with national policies was also highlighted, for example by refinancing the rental support fund and passing a national law for an extraordinary housing plan with the recovery of abandoned public property and public housing at its centre. Initiatives for which “adequate investments” are needed.
