Nadine Felix helps those affected by poverty find housing: “We can’t meet the demand”

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Finding accommodation in urban areas is difficult even for normal households. But for those living in poverty, this is nearly impossible. There is a shortage of affordable housing in many places. In cantons such as Graubinden, Zug and Zurich, rents for advertised apartments increased last year in the high single-digit percentage range, and in particularly sought-after locations, rents increased in the double-digit percentage range. The number of vacant apartments has been falling for years.

Without support, those affected by poverty are pushed aside. This is where Nadine Felix (49) and her team come into play. He is the managing director of the Domicil Foundation in Zurich, which helps financially unstable people find accommodation. For more and more people, Felix’s organization is their last hope.

Blick: Cost increases in recent years have particularly negatively affected those affected by poverty and the lower middle class. Do you notice this in the demand for housing agencies?
Nadine Felix: Our offers have always been in high demand, but in the last two years requests have increased by another 50 percent. We’re getting even more phone inquiries and people knocking on our office door. We cannot meet this demand in any way.

So you often have to say you can’t help?
We could not increase our capacity in the face of increasing demand. On the one hand, we constantly receive records from social assistance offices. We then offer a consultation hour each week where people without financial support can register with us. We cannot accept any more registrations.

How does such a consultation work?
We check whether there is urgency and whether the income is high enough to meet the expected rent level. Many of the families who contact us earn too little to afford affordable housing. We then inform them that they have the right to benefit from support services and direct them to the relevant authorities. We cannot support them financially.

Does the foundation provide guarantees to those looking for accommodation?
We don’t have our own flat to offer. Therefore, we would like to contact housing providers (owners, administrations, cooperatives) who want to rent affordable apartments to households that are particularly dependent on low rents. People affected by poverty often do not have the opportunity to buy an apartment themselves. Especially if there is still an entry in the debt collection ledger. As solidarity tenants, we sign the lease together and are responsible for any unpaid costs after the lease is signed. We currently have 1,130 flats and we rent one-third ourselves and sublease them. We vouch for the rest.

Are you getting more and more questions from people who are not considered to be in poverty by definition?
In fact, we are receiving more and more requests from the middle class and unfortunately we are having to turn them down. Our mission is to help people who are truly low-income and in emergency situations.

Who will contact you?
Our main target group is families. We primarily help families affected by poverty, often single mothers or fathers. However, retirees and young people in education also have problems finding affordable housing. We will direct you to the relevant authorities. Many of the people we support have an immigrant background. It’s even harder for them to find low-income housing because they often lack a network to help them find affordable housing.

How long does such a placement usually take?
There are very few apartments in the required price range in the city of Zurich and in the area where we operate. For a family of four, for example, this would be a 4.5-room apartment for a gross rent of 1,800 francs. Therefore we cannot make any predictions at this time. It usually takes nine or twelve months. But it can also take years. This becomes especially difficult in cases of major renovation or demolition of old residential buildings. New apartments are much more expensive. We then receive many requests from families who have roots in the area and are active in clubs. Children have friends at school. They can no longer find affordable housing in the area.

How often do you need to help with the rent?
We try to offer help in advance so it doesn’t get to that point. Depending on the situation, you may be entitled to support or private charities such as Caritas or Winterhilfe may be able to help you. We will step in if the bills are not paid when the lease agreement ends. Given that around a hundred tenancies are terminated each year, this is necessary for a handful of people. There were ten cases last year, an above-average number. However, if the rental relationship continues without any problems for several years, we try to save people from joint and several liability.

What might be needed to ensure that those affected by poverty have better access to affordable housing?
More affordable housing is needed, for example, through affordable apartment quotas in large projects. It is also important that affordable apartments are rented to people who really need them.

Source :Blick