Here we are again, friends, with the Friday appointment, this time without the Council of Ministers, but still with many topics for discussion.
As regards my Ministry, we have opened up a new important direction, that does not relate just to bricks and mortar, but also to solidarity, assistance, defence of the weakest groups of people in society, safety in the big cities, safety of the citizens: the matter of housing policy.

There is a big problem in Italy. This is especially true since the law blocking rents ran out of time. Let’s be clear. I’m in favour of liberalisation. It’s true that whoever buys a house cannot stay blocked for the rest of their lives. But it’s also clear that, whoever has no house cannot stay in this condition for the rest of their lives.
We have to meet the needs, together with the Local Authorities, the Regions and the local bodies, without showing favouritism.

At the Ministry of Infrastructure I have found many resources, a matter of 2,000,000,000 Euro that are unused because they are blocked by appeals and counter-appeals or procedural questions. For some time now in Italy, it seems that for anyone who wants to have an enterprise or anyone who wants to be in politics, the first thing they do is to go to the judge. Our country has become a single mess of litigation. Well, in these months, I have unblocked the funds and I am proud to be able to say that for some weeks now I have started, city by city, region by region, to allocate the money. Real money. Not promises. Milan, Naples, Rome, and the day after tomorrow to Turin and so on.

For a few hundred towns we have taken measures to have joint finance initiatives for the restoration of buildings in a bad state of repair in the suburbs, of buildings that are blocked and so cannot be rented out by the local authorities to those most in need. I believe that this has been a solid intervention: the famous "Quartiere 2" contracts. This has been talked about for years, and finally by Easter, all this money will be paid out.

Another law set aside 1,000,000,000 but this was blocked. And we are taking measures to distribute this as well to Milan, Rome, Naples, Palermo, Bari, Genoa.

But the most important thing that we are doing is to start off a new housing plan. We have written a law and I have taken on the honour and the duty to be the coordinator to get recognition of the housing needs of all the cities. I am insisting that we are not just talking of aspirations, but that time scales are laid down, that we have a timed programme laid down by law. This has been accepted. Within two months, starting from February, all the towns must give an indication of their housing needs

Within three months we must make up a group together with all the associations in the category so that we can write a law to reorganise all the housing needs in the territory. By June the Government and the Ministry of the Economy, must identify the resources and have a law ready to take to Parliament.

A timed-programme, as I said, that I intend to follow. I have already set the date of 17 April for the setting up of this grouping. I have already identified the generalities of the text. For example, there will be a measure to ensure that in all the cities, all properties belonging to the social protection agencies that are empty and not rented out must be sold to the local authorities at the same price and with the same privileges laid down for the tenants who have the “right to buy”.

There are hundreds of thousands of buildings in all cities belonging to the social protection agencies that are empty or even abandoned because of lack of maintenance. The law already allows these properties to be sold to the tenants, who however do not have the money to buy them. Why do we just have to have financial speculation and not give the Local Authorities the same right to buy as the tenant? In this way the local authorities can if they want to, buy that property at a just and fair price and make it available to the people as is right and proper?

This is just one of the numerous examples. Why do the buildings to be acquired by the Local Authorities to be used for public housing for the weakest sectors of society have to be taxed and to have sales tax applied?
It is a measure that hinders the creation of a stock of properties owned by the Local Authorities to make available to the people who are most in need. There you are: This is the responsible federalism.
This is what we are concerned with: by the end of this year we want to complete this important commitment that is in the manifesto programme but that is hardly discussed.

A Ministry of Infrastructure, thus, that is not just thinking of making roads and railways, as it has been accused, but that is thinking of showing solidarity and defending the weakest members of society.