Building hope at Luník IX – Self-help Construction of family Houses at Luník IX

About the Project

The idea

The project „Building hope at Luník IX – Self-Help Construction of Family Houses At Luník IX“ is built on experience learned from the successful project of self-help, self-financed construction of family houses in Rankovce in the Košice region. It was implemented by ETP Slovakia from 2014 to 2017 and the project was awarded by the European Economic and Social Committee with the Golden Award in 2014. The people of Rankovce, who built their houses, have not only gained a decent place to live, but they also learned skills, which are now helping them in  their jobs. In Košice, we are piloting this innovative scheme  in an urban environment.

The preparation work

The land-use plan of the City of Košice has been recently updated to allow the construction of individual family houses at Lunik IX. In 2018 the City Council  approved the updated Strategy for a comprehensive solution to the situation at Luník IX with ETP participating in the preparations. In July 2018 the Master Plan of Lunik IX was shared with the public, following which the preparations for the pilot project of self-help construction of the family houses have been prepared. 

The needs

According to the mapping of families in a housing need in Košice, which was organised by the DEDO Foundation and the City Košice in May 2021, in Košice about 300 families with children live in emergency housing or live in a shack or a garden hut. The current housing capacities are insufficient to solve this situation. Self-help construction of family houses, in combination with a savings and microloan program,can be one of the efficient solutions, especially for larger families with children. The families involved will not only earn decent housing, but also practical skills helping them in finding a job on the labour market.

Our methodology 

ETP Slovakia will provide non-profit microloans to selected families, who have regularly saved the agreed minimum amount every month for at least 1 year  so they can build their own houses. Clients‘ families will also participate in educational activities – financial education for adult clients and non-formal education, „From cradle to career“ for children and young people. The financial resources for the implementation of self-help construction will come from private donors and the revolving micro-loan fund ETP. We carry out the accompanying educational activities thanks to the support from public sources, as well as from private donors. Due to the increasing construction costs for the successful implementation of the project, we need to raise additional resources. ETP will also provide professional assistance in the construction of family houses, in obtaining  building permits and during the construction itself. The architectural plans for the self-help construction project has been  prepared by PLURAL and Miestor.

Our supports

Building strong partnerships is key to the successful implementation, sustainability and further scale-up of social innovations such as self-help construction. Self-help construction is one of the pilot projects and also a part of the prepared Concept of solving the housing emergency in Košice. The city of Košice provides land for future builders in the form of a long-term lease. We regularly communicate and cooperate with the Košice – Luník IX District during the implementation of activities . In the summer of 2021, the Košice Self-governing Region joined the project partners, which will help with the construction of a model house through the Košice self-governing region Social Enterprise. The model house construction project is supported by Hollen, LDS Charities, Habitat for Humanity, Wienerberger and other partners.

The realization

On the 24th of September, the construction site was officially opened by the governor of the Košice self-governing region, the vice-mayor of the city of Košice, and the Mayor of the Luník IX city district. After a few preparation works, the social enterprise of the Košice self-governing region started the work on the foundations and the retaining wall of the first house. The first house will be bigger than the others because this house will be used for the educational and social activities of ETP Slovakia in Luník IX. At the same time, ETP and young workers of the area achieved the necessary work for the connection to water and electricity. As of the end of 2021, the foundation is ready and the masonry works began. We are intensively working on the building permit of the second house.

After a winter break, we started construction work on the community house again in March. From March to May, the first and second floors were bricked up. On June 3, 2022, we completed the rough construction – we completed the roof and installed windows and doors.

On Monday, June 6, 2022, an inspection day took place on the construction site with the participation of the president of the Košice region. The social enterprise of the Košice region, which carried out the rough construction, will still participate in the isolation works. At the turn of June / July, the construction of the gallery is still waiting for us, and we are already completing the interior of the building. In September, we would like to have the building ready for approval.

Depending on how quickly the approval takes place, we plan to start using the community house for our activities in the autumn.

Contact

Antoine De Hertogh
project coordinator

e-mail: dehertogh@ke.etp.sk
tel: +421 907 965 784

Architectural study

Publicity:

Photo documentation from Lunik IX

Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov
Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov
Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov
Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov
Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov
Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov
Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov
Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov
Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov
Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov
Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov
Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov
Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov
Lunik IX - svojpomocná výstavba domov

Photo documentation from Rankovce

Project Partners