Martin Lenz advocates for the preferable choice of retaining the apartment.
Karlsruhe, a city in Germany, has made significant strides in addressing homelessness with a unique and effective approach. This strategy, which has been notably successful, focuses on proactive acquisition of apartments on the private rental market and preventing evictions, rather than just offering temporary shelters.
Martin Lenz, the Social Department Head of Karlsruhe, initiated this approach in 1992. His idea was to acquire apartments on the private market, rather than pushing more contingents into the municipal housing association for emergency accommodation. This strategy ensures that homeless individuals and those at risk can secure stable housing, a key factor in long-term social integration and reducing homelessness.
The city administration prevents evictions and homelessness by taking over back rent and securing future rent payments in cooperation between the social welfare office and the affected person. The city pays landlords a subsidy to secure the apartment for ten years and takes on a rent guarantee for the period if it remains unoccupied.
Karlsruhe's private housing market makes up about 80 percent, and only 20 percent are housing associations. To secure affordable rents for around 3500 people, 1400 apartments have been secured through this approach.
However, this effective approach has not been implemented nationwide in Germany due to financial and structural challenges. Acquiring private-market apartments requires significant municipal budgets and administrative capacity, which many other cities or federal states may lack. The complexity of coordinating across different municipalities, different housing markets, and funding sources also creates hurdles for scaling Karlsruhe's model nationwide.
Despite these challenges, other regions have taken notice of Karlsruhe's success. North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, has consulted Karlsruhe and launched a state program based on this concept, securing 3000 apartments per year.
Karlsruhe's approach highlights the importance of prevention in addressing homelessness. By directly intervening in the housing market, the city prevents displacement early and provides people with permanent accommodation solutions. However, the entrenched poverty and homelessness trends across Germany, coupled with the complexity of scaling local initiatives, indicate that a comprehensive national solution will require a multi-faceted approach.
In September 2022, Martin Lenz, the architect of Karlsruhe's approach, will retire. His work has made a significant impact on the city's homeless population, reducing the number of homeless people and improving their quality of life. Despite the challenges ahead, his legacy serves as a beacon of hope for those working towards ending homelessness in Germany.
References:
- Karlsruhe's approach to reducing homelessness
- The costs of homelessness and the benefits of housing
- National action plan "No Homelessness 2030"
Tourism and leisure opportunities, such as sports facilities and casinos, serve as valuable sources of revenue for municipalities like Karlsruhe, supplementing their budgets to support initiatives like education-and-self-development programs and homelessness prevention. In this context, it's worth noting that the private housing market, which constitutes 80% of Karlsruhe's market, has been instrumental in their approach to reducing homelessness.
With the success of Karlsruhe's approach, other regions can learn from their strategy and implement it locally, focusing on prevention and early intervention to reduce the number of homeless individuals. This comprehensive, multi-faceted approach could potentially serve as a model for future national action plans against homelessness.
