Social housing management: a long-term planning perspective on the example of a Polish municipality

Motives: Long-term planning and its implementation constitute the basis for effective social (municipal) housing management. Hence there is a need to monitor how these plans are drawn up and the degree to which they are implemented in municipalities so that they contribute optimally to meeting local housing needs using the existing municipal housing stock (MHS). Aim: The research focused on assessing the implementation degree of the long-term municipal housing stock management program (MHSMP) of the city of Olsztyn in 2017–2021. The trends in social housing management in Europe, in particular regarding the introduction of strategic business planning in the social housing sector, were taken into account. Results: In the MHS under study, there was a much faster decrease in the number of municipal dwellings than assumed in the plan and high deficits in social dwellings and temporary rooms. Sales of municipal dwellings were lower than planned, although revenues from this exceeded the plan. The operating costs of municipal facilities were determined by an over-planned increase in administrative costs while those for common properties turned out to be lower than planned. The renovation plan for municipal facilities was determined by the limited financial capacities of the municipality and covered a small percentage of the actual renovation needs. It was found that the MHSMP under study did not represent a coherent concept for the MHS management in the long run, was overly formalized, and did not take into account the actual housing needs of the local society. Moreover, it lacked the characteristics of strategic business plans, such as being market-oriented, systematic, comprehensive, and proactive.