Evicted in the Welfare State – a Comparative Analysis of Evictions due to Rent Arrears in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden

EUROPEAN RESEARCH CONFERENCEHomelessness, Migration and Demographic Change in Europe

Pisa, 16th September 2011

Interdisciplinary Center 'Sciences

for peace’

Evicted in the Welfare StateA Comparative Analysis of Evictions due to Rent Arrears

in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden

Sten-Åke Stenberg, Lia van Doorn, Susanne Gerull

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Outline of the Presentation Introduction Population and housing markets Evictions Regulation of evictions Prevention Comparison Conclusions



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



Population and Housing Markets



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



Population and Housing Markets



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).



Process from rent arrear to evictiondays

DE NL SE

rent arrears before an application to court can be delivered60 150 6

Duration until completion of service of process29 17 6

Duration of trial191 7 135

Duration of enforcement111 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.



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



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’



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



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



Thanks for your attention!

Lia van Doorn

[email protected]

Susanne Gerull

[email protected]

Sten-Åke Stenberg

[email protected]

Real Estate

Evicted in the Welfare State – a Comparative Analysis of Evictions due to Rent Arrears in Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden