The ‘Piano Casa’ we need is a pact with the state against illegality

The Housing Plan is now law, and the real challenge lies ahead: its implementation. This is a step that has been awaited for decades, designed to promote the right to housing for families, students and young workers. No programme of this scale, however, can rely solely on public funds. To truly address the housing crisis, it is essential to build a partnership between the public and private sectors, capable not only of attracting capital but also of retaining it in Italy. Investors are looking with interest at the Italian market, but two conditions are necessary for them to choose our country: a regulatory and fiscal framework that makes investments sustainable, and legal certainty. Only by protecting investors can we mobilise the resources needed to support the state in urban regeneration, increase the housing supply, bring affordable homes onto the market, and reduce the social pressure surrounding the housing issue. Those who allocate substantial resources to our country must be able to rely on clear rules and on institutions that protect property rights. Only by balancing the right to housing with the right to property and economic initiative can we create a space for shared development. This balance, however, is compromised when squatting is in some way ‘institutionalised’ or tacitly accepted as a substitute for public policy.

The prolonged squatting of entire building complexes, which have been taken away from their rightful owners for years – as in the cases of Spin Time in Rome or Leoncavallo in Milan – calls for reflection. In such cases, the illegality is not merely a matter of violating private property rights; it also poses a risk to those occupying the buildings and to those living in the surrounding areas. In a property held without legal title, it is in fact impossible to make serious plans for the investments needed to ensure its safety and habitability: systems cannot be brought up to standard, fire safety cannot be certified, structural inspections cannot be kept up to date, and the property’s fitness for occupation cannot be guaranteed. Safety is not necessarily lacking due to the negligence of those living there, who are often in vulnerable circumstances: it is lacking because, without a legal title, it is much more difficult to ensure it. The right to housing is therefore not upheld by suspending the regulations that make a property habitable, but through long-term planning and collaboration between the public and private sectors.

There is also another factor to consider, particularly when the occupied properties belong to institutional investors who manage assets on behalf of social security bodies, professional bodies or foundations. In such cases, it is the return on assets intended to guarantee social security and pension benefits over time that may be compromised. We cannot tackle the housing crisis simply by shifting the cost from one group of citizens to another. Helping those in difficulty cannot mean putting other workers’ savings and pensions at risk. A different approach is needed: increasing the supply of affordable housing and creating stable conditions so that the public and private sectors can co-invest in its development. The time has come to recognise that the ability to meet citizens’ basic needs inevitably also depends on mobilising private capital. The public sector, on its own, does not have the necessary resources to tackle the housing crisis, but at the same time it is unthinkable to shift the cost of a social emergency onto the private sector. We need to build partnerships capable of reconciling financial sustainability with social objectives. On the other hand, tolerating the entrenchment of squatting sends a signal of profound uncertainty to investors.

The prospect of being unable to use one’s own property for years acts as a deterrent to investment and risks paralysing precisely those projects needed to increase the supply of affordable housing, restore the building stock, regenerate neighbourhoods and limit the consumption of new land. The property sector is not asking for preferential treatment, but for a reliable regulatory framework and a relationship of trust with the authorities. The success of the Housing Plan also depends on this: on a partnership between the public and private sectors grounded in the rule of law. Only in this way can we build a modern, safe and inclusive housing supply and strike a genuine balance between the right to housing, the protection of property rights and urban development.