With a new plan, the government will reverse the trend so that the police officer, the nurse, the cashier in the supermarket and students can also afford to live in the big cities.
Over the next 10 to 15 years, 22,000 new public housing units will be built.
– As it is right now, many can not afford a home in the city where they want to live, and it is quite simply wrong, says Minister of the Interior and Housing Kaare Dybvad Bek (S).
On Tuesday, he and the Minister of Culture and Church Affairs Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen (S) presented the play “Closer to II – Cities with space for everyone”.
Large parts of the plan are to be financed with DKK 10 billion from the New Construction Fund, to which residents in public housing departments have paid money since 1999.
Specifically, the government points to 14 areas in Copenhagen, including Charlottenlund, Nordhavn and Christiania, where it must be investigated whether public housing can be built.
In addition, 4,000 student housing units in the capital, so that both young Copenhageners and students from other parts of the country find it easier to get a roof over their heads.
– Many come from the province to Copenhagen to study. We owe them a home that is affordable, says Kaare Dybvad Bek.
For all the country’s municipalities, they must in future have the opportunity to make demands in the local plan that up to 33 percent of the housing stock in new residential areas must be public housing.
The figure is currently 25 percent.
The financing for that part of the plan is done by establishing a new loan scheme for state land purchases of DKK 1.9 billion in the period 2022 to 2031. The municipalities must also contribute DKK 700 million.
Included in the plan are also 1,700 homes of 55 square meters for 3,500 kroner a month for people who are homeless or on their way to becoming so.
It will especially benefit Copenhagen and Aarhus.
In Boligøkonomisk Videncenter, director Curt Liliegreen calls the plan very ambitious. He tells DR that it borders on being able to be called historic.
– There is really a significant volume in the funds that are added from the New Construction Fund.
– It is an initiative that addresses many of the issues associated with building public housing in the big cities.
According to Minister of Culture Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, this is about more than low rents. Architecture must also play a greater role.
– When the bricks are to be laid, the architecture must be prioritized and thought through. It’s not just about a rent that is affordable. But also about frameworks that create our lives and make us feel safe, says Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen.
In her speech at the opening of the Folketing, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen (S) said that the new homes must be 80-90 square meters in size, and that they must not cost more than around 8000 kroner a month to rent.
Source: The Nordic Page