The City of Luxembourg presented its new project of "Participatory housing grouping” project today, a new concept that brings together individuals who take part in the definition, design and construction of their buildings, housing and common areas and to ensure the subsequent management of the building.
For the first project, the City has provided two parcels of land belonging to it, one located 22 Boulevard Grande-Duchesse Joséphine-Charlotte in Belair, the other 41, rue Edouard Attic in Bonnevoie. The land in Bonnevoie, with a surface area of 4a 62ca, will accommodate 5 to 6 dwellings. The one in Belair, with a surface of 5a 64ca, 8 to 9 dwellings.
The two participatory housing groups will be selected following a formal tender procedure (call for applications) and on the basis of the files submitted.
The call for applications will officially begin on Monday, 12 June 12 and will end on the day of the signing of the authentic deed between the City and the members of the selected group. All the modalities relating to the allocation of land will be set out in a detailed specification which will be available at the public information meetings organised by the City (May 30 and June 12, 2017) and from May 30, 2017 upon prior request By mail (habitatparticipatif@vdl.lu).
The City leaves to the future participants of the project the choice between an acquisition of the full ownership or a emphyteusis over 99 years, according to certain specific modalities: each grouping must definitively specify its choice in the submitted application file.
From the start of the project, private individuals who are part of the participatory housing group are more involved than in a "classic" real estate purchase from a developer. Thus, they can give their opinion during the different phases - planning, design, construction - have a higher decision-making power and can influence the quality of the whole project. For example, participants will be able to choose environmentally friendly building materials, take pets into account, integrate community spaces into the building or prefer car-free housing.
This new form of community housing also allows for a lower price compared to a traditional purchase and is an innovative alternative for affordable housing: experience shows that overhead and apartment costs fall from 15 to 20%, notably through the exploitation of the skills of the members of the community or the saving of agency and distributor fees.
In addition to these advantages, participatory habitat groupings help create greater solidarity and lasting links between future neighbours, which is an important social component.
An explanatory brochure is available from the City website from 18 May, and two information meetings on Tuesday 30 May and Monday 12 June 2017 are being held at the Cité Auditorium (3, rue Genistre, L-1623 Luxembourg), at 18:30.
In addition, the City is proposing three workshops to assist in the development of applications, which will take place at 18.30 hours at the "Rocade" building, 3, rue du Laboratoire in Luxembourg-Bonnevoie, on Thursday 29 June, Thursday 6 July, and Thursday 13 July.
Entries to the workshops must be made at least 15 days before the workshop in question by mail: habitatparticipatif@vdl.lu, specifying the number of people attending the workshop.
The place and time of the workshops will be adapted according to the number of participants who will be notified by e-mail if necessary.
