The COVID-19 crisis has exposed and worsened housing challenges in many cities in OECD countries. Housing inequality – marked by differences in prices, quality, location, and accessibility – came abruptly to the fore during government-implemented lockdowns and “stay at home” measures. At the initial peak of the crisis, cities, regions/states and national governments deployed emergency safety measures such as suspending evictions and relocating homeless populations, while some landlords suspended or cancelled rent. However, temporary measures will not solve housing inequality long-term. This webinar explored what local and national governments can do to offer adequate and more affordable and sustainable housing for all.

2. AZIZA AKHMOUCH
HEAD
Cities, Urban PoIicies and Sustainable
Development Division
CENTRE FOR ENTREPRENEUSHIP, SMEs,
REGIONS AND CITIES, OECD

3. Michael Hancock
Mayor of Denver, USA
Michaela Kauer
Director of Vienna’s EU Liaison
Office, Brussels
Daniela Grabmüllerová
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Regional
Development, Czech Republic
Sjoerdje van Heerden
Scientific Officer, Joint Research
Centre, European Commission

4. LAMIA KAMAL-
CHAOUI
DIRECTOR
CENTRE FOR ENTREPRENEUSHIP, SMEs,
REGIONS AND CITIES, OECD

5. SOO-JIN KIM
DEPUTY HEAD
Cities, Urban PoIicies and Sustainable
Development Division
CENTRE FOR ENTREPRENEUSHIP, SMEs,
REGIONS AND CITIES, OECD

6. HOUSING IN CITIES
IN THE COVID-19 ERA
Soo-Jin KIM
10 December 2020
Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions & Cities

7. © OECD 7
Housing is often a highly urban problem
House prices in cities have generally increased faster
than national averages
Evolution of real house prices, %, Q2 2012 - Q2 2020
0
10
20
30
40
50
60 Cities Towns and suburbs Rural
More people live in overcrowded housing in cities
% of total population living in overcrowded housing in Europe,
by degree of urbanisation
Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions & Cities
Source: European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC survey)Source: OECD National and Regional House Price Indices (accessed 10 Dec 2020)
National average evolution

8. © OECD 8
Getting the right kind of housing in the right place in cities
Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions & Cities
Source: OECD (2015), Urban Policy Reviews: Mexico –
Transforming Urban Policy & Housing Finance
High vacancy rates in several metropolitan areas in Mexico
Source: OECD (2018), Housing Dynamics in Korea: Building Inclusive & Sustainable Cities
Most substandard housing is concentrated in cities in Korea

9. © OECD 9
Where you can afford to live within a city
determines your life chances
Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions & Cities
Source: OECD (2016), Making Cities Work for All
… and to climb up the income ladder
In the Netherlands, children
who grew up in the poorest
neighbourhoods (bottom 20%
of income) ended up earning
on average 5-6% less than
those who grew up in the most
affluent neighbourhoods.
Source: OECD (2018), Divided Cities: Understanding Intra-Urban Inequalities
A neighbourhood with 1% more
white-residents offers each of its
residents access to 18 more jobs
within a 30-minute commute by
public transport.
… to access jobs

10. © OECD 10
COVID-19 exposed & exacerbated urban housing challenges
Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions & Cities
OECD (2020), Regions and Cities at a Glance
Cities’ stronger potential to shift to remote working
might affect housing markets
% of jobs amenable to remote working
Lockdowns revealed
unequal housing
conditions in cities

11. © OECD 11
Emergency housing solutions are accelerating
broader urban transformation for the long run
Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions & Cities
Available in 5 languages:
English http://oe.cd/covid-cities-en
French http://oe.cd/covid-cities-fr
Spanish http://oe.cd/covid-cities-es
Portuguese http://oe.cd/covid-cities-pt
Japanese http://oe.cd/covid-cities-jp
SmartSustainableInclusive
Freeze /
cancel rents
Shelter
homeless
Energy
efficiency
Building
Information
Modelling (BIM)
Construction
robotics
Green urban
neighbourhoods
Build social
housing

12. © OECD 12
Cities have limited resources to supply housing directly, but
a range of indirect instruments to steer housing outcomes
Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions & Cities
OECD (2020), Regions and Cities at a Glance
Cities have a tight spending power in housing
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Defence
Public order and security
Health
Environmental protection
Recreation, culture and religion
Housing and community amenities
Economic affairs
Social protection
General public services
Education
Share of total municipal expenditure, %
Misalignment across national/local housing policies or
between housing & other policy sectors is likely to generate
trade-offs & jeopardise overall recovery/resilience
OECD Regional Development Working Papers, No. 2020/03
"Housing policies for sustainable and inclusive cities: How national governments
can deliver affordable housing and compact urban development"

13. JOIN US  Soo-Jin.Kim@oecd.orgHow’s housing in your city?

14. Time to hear from you !

15. Michael Hancock
Mayor of Denver, USA
Michaela Kauer
Director of Vienna’s EU Liaison
Office, Brussels
Daniela Grabmüllerová
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Regional
Development, Czech Republic
Sjoerdje van Heerden
Scientific Officer, Joint Research
Centre, European Commission

20. Michael Hancock
Mayor of Denver, USA
Michaela Kauer
Director of Vienna’s EU Liaison
Office, Brussels
Daniela Grabmüllerová
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Regional
Development, Czech Republic
Sjoerdje van Heerden
Scientific Officer, Joint Research
Centre, European Commission

21. Michael Hancock
Mayor of Denver, USA
Michaela Kauer
Director of Vienna’s EU Liaison
Office, Brussels
Daniela Grabmüllerová
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Regional
Development, Czech Republic
Sjoerdje van Heerden
Scientific Officer, Joint Research
Centre, European Commission

22. MINISTRY OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT CZ
Daniela Grabmüllerová
Czech Republic
Housing in Cities in the
Covid-19 era -
Czech Republic

23. Extraordinary year 2020
 Housing price growth continues …
 High demand versus insufficient supply
 Slow new housing construction
 Record volume of mortgages
 Record demand for recreational real properties
 Short-term rentals decline (Prague, etc.)

24. Temporary measures
 Extraordinary social allowances - immediate social help
(still very low unemployment rate = 3.8%)
 Rent moratorium
 Loan installment moratorium
 Legal protection against eviction
 Longer deadlines for services and energy billing
 Some hotels as temporary dormitories …

25. Lessons learned
 Reform of Construction Code - speeding up
the building permitting process = new Building Act
 Use of brownfields in large cities
 Support for rental housing; short-term rentals regulation
 Support for not for profit (cooperative) housing + houses for
seniors

26. Thanks for your attention.
Daniela.Grabmullerova@mmr.cz

27. Michael Hancock
Mayor of Denver, USA
Michaela Kauer
Director of Vienna’s EU Liaison
Office, Brussels
Daniela Grabmüllerová
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Regional
Development, Czech Republic
Sjoerdje van Heerden
Scientific Officer, Joint Research
Centre, European Commission

33. Time to hear from you !

34. oe.cd/champion-mayors
ChampionMayors@oecd.org
@OECD_local
linkedin.com/company/oecd-local
OECD Cities Policy Responses to
COVID-19 (2020)
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US
OECD Urban Policy Reviews: Mexico
2015
OECD Housing Dynamics in Korea,
Building Inclusive and Smart Cities
(2018)
OECD Regional Development working
paper on Housing Policies for
sustainable and inclusive Cities (2020)