Presentation given by Sten-Ake Stenberg, SW, Lia van Doorn, NL, Susanne Gerull, DE at a FEANTSA Research Conference on "Homelesness, Migration and Demographic Change in Europe", Pisa, Italy, 2011

1. Insert your logo here
Evicted in the Welfare State
A Comparative Analysis of Evictions due to Rent Arrears
in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden
Sten-Åke Stenberg, Lia van Doorn, Susanne
Gerull
Interdisciplinary
Center 'Sciences
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Pisa, 16th September 2011

2. Outline of the Presentation
 Introduction
 Population and housing markets
 Evictions
 Regulation of evictions
 Prevention
 Comparison
 Conclusions
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3. Introduction
 Evictions are a major factor behind
homelessness
 Rent arrears seem to be the most
common formal cause of evictions in
Europe
 Evictions take place in the intersection
between civil and social citizenships
 International data are scarce
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4. Population and Housing Markets
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5. Evictions
 Germany/Berlin
 No national statistics / no complete numbers for Berlin
 Rent arrears in euro seem to decrease over the last years, but
applications of evictions and evictions seem to persist on a stable level
 41% of the applied evictions are executed in Berlin 2009 (est.)
 The Netherlands/Amsterdam
 Eviction data are only available for the Social Housing Sector
 Number of evictions are decreasing because of the Housing
associations’ responsive collection policies
 22% of the applied evictions are executed in Amsterdam 2009
 Sweden/Stockholm
 Big decrease of evictions since the beginning of the 1990s
 31% of the applied evictions were executed in Sweden 2009
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6. Population and Housing Markets
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7. Regulation of Evictions
 Germany
 Arrears of 2 months’ rent can lead to an instant dismissal of the tenant
 The Netherlands
 After 2 months of rent arrears the tenants are sent a written demand
from the housing association; after approx. 3 months the housing
association hands the case over to the bailiff
 Sweden
 7 days after the monthly rent is due the tenant formally loses the right to
the contract
In Germany and Sweden the tenant can regain the tenancy if the rent arrear is
regulated during a certain period of time after the application for eviction is
served (Germany) or sent to court (Sweden).
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8. Process from rent arrear to eviction
days
DE NL SE
rent arrears before an application to court can be delivered
60 150 6
Duration until completion of service of process
29 17 6
Duration of trial
191 7 135
Duration of enforcement
111 28 19
Total administrative duration (period before application not included)
331 52 160
Total duration 391 202 166
Source: Section 543 of the German Civil Code (Germany); Civil Code (Burgerlijk Wetboek), article 7:201 (The
Netherlands); Lag (1990:746) om betalningsföreläggande och handräckning 13 § (Sweden); Djankov et al (2003)
These differences in time periods have several consequences for
tenants at risk of being evicted.
A long time period might be interpreted as something positive for the
tenants, but might cause unnecessary problems both for the tenant and
the landlord as the debt becomes insurmountable.
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9. Evictions
 Germany
 When the court decision is legally binding, the responsible bailiff may
schedule the eviction
 A forwarding agency and a lock and key service is then booked and the
flat is emptied at the scheduled time
 The Netherlands
 The Dutch bailiff tries to collect the rent arrears or to make a payment
arrangement. If that does not help the judge will issue an eviction order
 Evictions are carried out by a specially appointed team that consists of a
bailiff, police officers and the staff of municipal services
 Sweden
 The execution title gives the landlord the right to apply to the bailiff for
an execution of the eviction at the court
 “Change of name- and lock method” or stepwise eviction or immediate
eviction
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10. Prevention
 Local authorities have to be informed about a notice to quit
(Sweden), applications of evictions (Germany) and
scheduled evictions (Germany, the Netherlands and
Sweden)
 In Germany, rent arrears should be assumed if this is
”justified and necessary and the risk of otherwise becoming
homeless threatens” (SGB II/XII)
 No Swedish authority has the immediate responsibility to
help tenants with rent arrears
 Outreach approach in the Netherlands that offers tenants
practical help to avert the eviction process; policy to give
defaulters ‘a second chance’
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11. Comparison
 Housing markets (rented housing, social housing etc.) is quite
different in the included countries
 Data about rent arrears are largely non-existent in all 3
countries/cities and comparable indicators rare
 Comprehensive national statistics on evictions are only available in
Sweden
 In the Netherlands data are only available for social housing
 In Germany there are no official data at all
 Big differences in time periods: process from rent arrear to eviction
between 166 (Sweden) and 391 (Germany) days
 The legal possibilities to protect people with rent arrears from losing
their flats are quite different in the compared countries
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12. Conclusions
 Evictions take place in the intersection between civil and
social rights
 This could be the reason that in all three countries the local
social services have to be informed about evictions.
 Germany seems to offer tenants and administration the
most authority to prevent homelessness also against the
will of the concerned landlords
 More reliable data and research is needed as rent
arrears are the most reason behind evictions
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13. Thanks for your
attention!
Lia van Doorn
lia.vandoorn@hu.nl
Susanne Gerull
mail@susannegerull.de
Sten-Åke Stenberg
stenake@sofi.su.se
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