This project was a finalist in the European Responsible Housing Awards 2022 under the ‘Fair Financing for Housing Affordability’, organised by Housing Europe, the International Union of Tenants and DELPHIS.
Organisation: Svartlamon Housing Foundation.
Goals
The project was initiated having two main dimensions in mind: offering affordable and eco-friendly housing and creating a good neighbourhood.
Context
Svartlamon was originally a working-class housing area with old wooden houses, owned by the municipality. In the 1990s it was occupied by a large group of tenant activists, who were eventually granted the right to live there. A tenant organization took form and founded the housing association.
Social housing in Norway is almost non-existent, and the public housing sector is run with marked principles such as short-term contracts and marked-based rent. In Norway’s third largest city, Trondheim, an ideal housing organization founded by the tenants themselves, is renting out housing to approximately 250 tenants.
The area Svartlamon is governed by public regulation since it is a pilot for urban ecology and participation, amongst others. Svartlamon has a strong democratic culture, and it is managed through meetings, publications, and committees. The tenants are also represented on the board of Svartlamon housing foundation. In recent years, Svartlamon has built several new and eco-friendly houses where the tenants themselves have done the building. It also has a number of services such as their own kindergarden (also open for others), cafes, numerous repairing workshops, concert scenes, spaces for band practice, etc.
What is innovative about this project?
This project represents a unique model for tenants’ participation in a Norwegian context. Another achievement is building affordable new housing (3 million NOK [295,000 EUR] for 5 small family houses, for instance) with second-hand materials and through old houses being relocated from the countryside to Svartlamon.
Interventions
The “Svartlamon model”, was used as a tool with an emphasis on communal sharing, resident democracy, diversity, affordable rent, and “do-it-yourself” principles. The residents decide collectively how they want their community to be.
The Svartlamon model entails that each resident takes greater responsibility for maintaining their own living space and communal areas than in other typical rental arrangements.
By doing maintenance work together, and by applying each other’s resources and skills, the rent can be reduced to below average market prices. A requirement for the rent to be kept low is that residents contribute with their own effort, either through physical work, administration, voluntary assignments, or social initiatives.
Impact
- Safe and affordable housing for 250 inhabitants.
- Social, ecological, and economic sustainability integrated into the housing project.
Lessons learned
- Svartlamon has built several new and eco-friendly houses where the tenants themselves have done the building.
- Emphasis on communal sharing, resident democracy, and the participatory, management of the co-living space.
- Promotion of social cohesion and social mix.
- Strong involvement of tenants in the decision-making process.
- Reduction of rental cost below the market average.
