Ending homelessness in Central and Eastern Europe: making the shift to a housing-

Ending homelessness in Central and Eastern Europe: making the shift to a housing-led system in Romania 2 Gaps in the homelessness sector The homelessness sector is overwhelmingly dominated by emergency and temporary responses rather than those aimed at preventing or ending homelessness. [...] Policy responses have not been able to compensate for the shortage of affordable housing, a challenge caused by mass privatisation in the 1990s and the ownership-focused shift of the 2000s. [...] Recommendations for local government and city management (municipal) • Allocate a greater proportion of resources to and prioritise the development and expansion of the municipal housing sector by: » Supporting and incentivising construction of new social housing » Directly or indirectly carrying out renovation work to empty or substandard buildings » Purchasing homes through the private rented se. [...] Ending homelessness in Central and Eastern Europe: making the shift to a housing-led system in Romania 6 Recommendations for policymakers (national/regional) • Make nationwide data on homelessness and housing poverty publicly available, and integrate forthcoming EU-standard methodology • Implement the 2022 National Strategy in a way that builds on the lessons of pilot efforts by private providers. [...] offering tax allowance schemes for landlords • Commission feasibility studies on the introduction of a nationwide means-tested housing benefit scheme • Make practitioner participation a cornerstone of devising and implementing national and regional housing and anti-homelessness strategies and action plans • Introduce and strengthen homelessness prevention mechanisms (as is stressed in the National.