EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE OF SOCIAL HOUSING FUNDING AS A TOOL FOR UKRAINIAN CITIES SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The issue of ensuring adequate living conditions is particularly relevant for the 1 billion people worldwide living in densely populated urban areas, in informal settlements and slums. This problem does not lose its relevance for the cities of Ukraine, which have 1.3 million families in need of better living conditions. This, without exaggeration, threatening situation emphasizes the relevance of this study and requires immediate action by public authorities and local governments to develop and immediately implement effective tools for social protection of urban residents, which due to difficult life circumstances need to improve their housing standards. The search for ways out of the crisis in the field of government housing policy begins with an analysis of the preconditions and reasons for the failure of most national government programs and projects in this area. It is the results of such an analysis that allowed the authors of the study to determine the directions of further scientific research. Today there is a real need for systematization and analysis of modern international experience in this area in order to clarify possible problems and prospects for its implementation in Ukraine. It would be extremely useful for public authorities that take care of social protection of the population and for local governments to study the best practices of European countries in this area. The model according to which the needy would receive social housing not in property, but rented on preferential terms is considered to be unequivocally promising for us. This would, firstly, allow the social service operator to successfully maneuver in the real estate market and take advantage of the favorable situation in the real estate market, selling social housing at the peak of the cycle and investing in it in decline, and, secondly, would create powerful incentives for self-overcoming life difficulties by recipients of such services. The authors proposed a scheme of organization and interaction of effective market mechanisms and instruments, in particular Asset management companies’ operations with derivatives during the implementation of state housing policy can radically solve the problems that have accumulated over the years.