The social housing bill is set for its first reading at the next sitting of the Grand and General Council (Consiglio Grande e Generale). It provides for temporary public housing and, where none is available, a contribution towards renting on the private market. The session opens on 7 September.
Financial support of up to €250 a month to help cover rent, or the possibility of being temporarily assigned a publicly owned home: these are among the key measures contained in the bill titled “Measures to support social housing” (“Misure di sostegno in materia di edilizia sociale”), which is due to reach the Grand and General Council in the coming weeks.
The proposal was submitted on 27 August by the Secretariat of State with responsibility for Cooperation and appears as item 21 on the agenda for first-reading examination. The lengthy September parliamentary session will open on Monday 7 September and continue on the 8th, 9th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd of the month.
The proposal is grounded in the principle of providing a response to individuals and families experiencing a “genuine and proven housing need.” The first tool envisaged is the temporary allocation, on a rental basis, of properties owned by the Most Excellent Chamber (Eccellentissima Camera).
Access would not, however, be open to everyone. Among the eligibility requirements set out in the bill are San Marino citizenship, or at least five years of registered and effective residency, adult age, and the absence of ownership, bare ownership, usufruct or right of habitation over residential properties, including abroad. Applicants must also be in specific family or employment circumstances, face serious financial hardship, or have physical conditions that make immediate housing necessary.
There is also a significant income threshold: the household’s net income, as shown in the most recent tax return, must not exceed €16,000. To retain the benefit into a second year, the family’s annual net income must not exceed €20,000.
Housing allocation would initially run for a maximum of 24 months. Where requirements continue to be met, the State Congress (Congresso di Stato) could grant annual extensions up to a maximum of five years, subject to the exceptions and conditions set out in the bill.
Rent, too, would be calculated based on the household’s financial situation. The proposal sets a rate tied to the family’s annual net income: 5% up to €3,000, 10% between €3,001 and €8,000, 15% between €8,001 and €16,000, and 25% between €16,001 and €20,000.
The measure most likely to draw attention, however, concerns cases where the State has no available housing to allocate. Where eligibility requirements are met, the State Congress could authorise a contribution of €250 a month for twelve months, renewable for a further twelve, to help cover the rent of a property on the private market. The total rent for the chosen property could not exceed €750 a month, and the contribution would be paid directly to the property owner.
The benefit would therefore amount to €3,000 over one year, and up to €6,000 over the maximum period of 24 months. The bill also stipulates that funds will be granted until the relevant budget line is exhausted, and that applications rejected due to lack of funds may be resubmitted in the following financial year.
The proposal also introduces a series of checks and grounds for forfeiting the benefit: from failure to pay rent for three months, to subletting the property to third parties, to using the property for unlawful activities or no longer meeting the income requirements. In such cases, the procedure could lead to eviction and repossession of the property.
For now, the text is only at the start of its parliamentary journey: it will go before the Council for its first reading in September, as confirmed by the Grand and General Council’s official documentation. It will therefore be up to political debate and the subsequent parliamentary process to determine whether — and in what form — these new measures to address the housing emergency will become law.
