Platform for Social Housing meets with Czech Regional Development Minister
Press release of the Platform for Social Housing
Slippers belong in homes: The Platform for Social Housing calls on the Regional Development Ministry and the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry to become its partners in the design of social housing. Regional Development Minister Kamil Jankovský said today at a meeting with representatives of the Platform that he supports the adoption of a law on social housing and proposals to assist people now living in residential hotels to access standard rental housing.
Dozens of people wearing different kinds of slippers gathered today in front of the Regional Development Ministry to express their concern that Czech towns will soon be flooded by mobs of homeless people wearing slippers on the street. The newly-created Platform for Social Housing is offering to become an equal partner to the Regional Development Ministry and the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry in resolving this anticipated crisis.
The Platform advocates adopting a law on social housing and regulations that would ensure dignified homes for people who find themselves in housing crises. The Platform is also demanding that meetings on social housing policy no longer take place behind closed doors.
Representatives of the Platform met with Regional Development Minister Kamil Jankovský during today’s "happening" and discussed social housing regulation with him. Platform spokesperson Štěpán Ripka said afterward: "The minister agrees there is a need for a law on social housing. In his view, the law should primarily be designed by the Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry and his ministry should contribute to its preparation as well.“
Representatives of the Platform discussed the dismal situation in the country’s residential hotels with the minister and the ministry’s plans to build and operate more residential hotels supported through subsidy programs. According to the Platform, this would be a mistake, as we know from international experience that the more residential hotels there are, the more people will have to leave their homes and settle for long-term accommodation in facilities designed for temporary use only.
Jan Milota, coordinator of the Platform, summarized the results of the meeting: "The minister promised that if the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry comes to them with a proposal for how to get people out of the residential hotels and into rental housing, he will support such an initiative. The minister is aware of the long-term bias toward support for home ownership in the Czech Republic and of the fact that now there should be far more support for rental housing."
Fewer and fewer inhabitants of the Czech Republic have a home to wear slippers in and there is a serious risk that this traditional symbol of the Czech home will become less and less visible, and not because Czech households decide to go barefoot or wear their shoes indoors. The main reason is the fact that more and more people have no homes in which to wear slippers at all.
Many people are now living in institutions, residential hotels, or shelters that do not provide them with the same kind of home base that other people enjoy. Sometimes it is possible to wear overshoes in such facilities, but you cannot enjoy wearing slippers (or even a robe) in most of them.
Since people in the Czech Republic need to be able to wear slippers in order to lead a satisfactory life, more and more of them have begun wearing slippers on the streets, since they have no homes to wear them in. The Platform for Social Housing knows how to prevent this and is therefore calling on the Regional Development Ministry and the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry to collaborate with the Platform as a partner to resolve this crisis.
The Platform for Social Housing was created as a group of non-governmental, nonprofit organizations and academic experts who have long focused on the topic of social housing. Members of the Platform in recent years have warned of the poor housing conditions of a large number of people and their rising numbers. Now they are united in their effort to join the discussion about the future form of social housing and are calling on all other organizations and academic experts who identify with the founding declaration of the Platform to get involved in its activity.
The Platform advocates the adoption of a law on social housing, about which Jan Milota says the following: "Only a law can unequivocally delineate people’s rights and responsibilities when they are unable to arrange for dignified housing on their own. Only a law can ensure the thorough coordination of individual institutions to support such people on the road to dignified housing. Ensuring the right to dignified housing should be supported on the basis of individual needs by adequate, quality social services that help people maintain their housing. Through social housing, the right to a dignified home should be ensured for all inhabitants of the Czech Republic."
The Regional Development Ministry met one week ago with the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry to design a bill on a comprehensive solution for social housing. The Platform is offering these state bodies its support in the design of social housing.
Štěpán Ripka says that "The Platform for Social Housing is the only group in the Czech Republic to be seriously focused on this topic that represents the public interest and the needs of social housing users. The social aspect of this is the focus of the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry, while the housing aspect is the focus of the Regional Development Ministry. We know how to meaningfully bring both aspects together, and that is why we want to participate in all relevant meetings on the design of social housing. We hope the next meeting between these ministries will not take place behind closed doors."
The Platform for Social Housing calls on interested individuals and organizations to be come its members. Current members are:
IQ Roma servis
Vzájemné soužití (Life Together)
Centrom
Armáda spásy (Salvation Army)
Štěpán Ripka – sociologist
ROMEA
Český helsinský výbor (Czech Helsinki Committee)
Fakulta sociálních studií – Ostravská univerzita (Faculty of Social Studies, Ostrava University)
Prof. Martin Potůček – sociologist
Linda Sokačová – sociologist
Ivanka Mariposa Čonková
Konexe o.s.
Prof. Jan Keller – sociologist
Supporters:
Ondřej Liška
Dr. Will Guy (University of Bristol)
Václav Exner – Alternativa zdola (Alternatives from Below)
