Housing Europe welcomes a new member from Portugal and a new partner from Croatia
Meet Gebalis, the municipally-owned enterprise that manages Lisbon's public housing, and the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Property in Croatia
Brussels, 7 September 2020 | Published in Social, Future of the EU & Housing
This September, Housing Europe expanded its network, welcoming a new member and a partner that share the same mission - to provide affordable and sustainable homes.
Housing Europe is happy to announce that our very first digital General Assembly that was held on September, 4th has approved the applications of Gebalis - Management of the Public Housing of the Municipality of Lisbon, Portugal and the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction & State Assets in Croatia to become a member and partner respectively, and to join forces in building resilient communities.
Created in 1995, Gebalis is a municipally-owned enterprise of local development that manages Lisbon's public housing and provides jobs to more than 220 people. It is responsible for 61 400 residents, 3 261 buildings, 66 quarters, 1 078 commercial areas and runs 91 500 square meters of parking lots.
Gebalis (Gestão do Arrendamento da Habitação Municipal de Lisboa) focuses on social development and integration of people, as well as on environmental education, patrimonial conservation and residents' professional integration. Our member has 11 local offices and their headquarter is based in Lisbon.
A major task of Gebalis is to rehabilitate and maintain the existing public housing units, mitigate segregation and community development. Back in 2010, the publicly-owned enterprise created the LIFE Programme to address the lack of housing oriented to the needs of people with reduced mobility. It created a new class of dwellings called Dwellings for Universal Use.
The Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Property is responsible for physical planning, construction, housing and the implementation of key EU-funded programmes in Croatia. Today, the country is facing a number of challenges in housing - a constant increase of the cost of land, significant price differences between properties in the coastal area and the rest of the country and only 1.8% of the population benefitting from social rent which makes our collaboration at European level even more important. The Ministry joins Housing Europe with the status of a partner, a collaboration opportunity that is open to institutions, foundations and other non-housing providers that are working on housing research and policy.
Get to know more about the work of Gebalis & the Croatian ministry.