Developing and operating social housing and social care programmes in Budapest is a housing renovation, employment support and housing rights advocacy project that delivers affordable rental homes for homeless and low-income people. The project supports people to develop the necessary skills to live stable and independent lives, and, ultimately, to integrate into wider society.
Established by Street to Home Association (Utcából Lakásba Egyesület or ULE) in a country where street homelessness is a crime and state support non-existent, it is the only project in Hungary that delivers decent permanent housing for homeless people, in contrast to the shelter system prevalent across Europe. The project works with partners, volunteers and future tenants in bringing empty properties and plots of land back into use as affordable rental housing for some of the most vulnerable people in Hungary.
It is one of the first projects in Eastern Europe to adopt the ‘Housing First’ model and combine housing provision with social support. Since 2014, ULE has provided 29 homes for 66 people in some of the poorest districts of Budapest; worked with around 100 community volunteers to renovate homes; and supported 50 people per year back into work through its ‘Give Work’ programme.
