Social housing – Low-cost living in Milan

A public-private partnership to provide premium city accommodation at low prices. Nothing magic, just a very real-world social housing project in Milan. The result will be a residential area with 123 housing units in a range of types and sizes, to be offered both for assisted rental and with future purchase options, housing association services such as community living, DIY, allotments, green roofing and herb gardens.

The project also includes recreational and cultural spaces with services designed for young people and families. The tenants have been involved in a process designed to put them in charge of the common areas and collaborative services that they choose to develop together (after-school club for children, car-sharing, etc.). The Via Cenni project, which is now a reality, was created by architect Fabrizio Rossi Prodi from Florence, who took up the challenge of “constructing architecture around the idea of community, imagining person-friendly spaces and architecture that takes care of the environment. The heart of the new complex will be a small internal park, a symbol of sustainability, along with the various places and flows that accompany it on the different floors, multiplying the scenes of daily life for the residents”. The project was constructed by Polaris Real Estate SGR SpA in collaboration with the Social Housing Foundation (FHS) as part of the Lombardy Real Estate Fund sponsored by the Cariplo Foundation and the Lombardy Region. The Municipality of Milan, which provided the land on leasehold, is also a partner in the initiative. A new way of low-cost living, designed especially for families who have been squeezed out of the rental market by the crisis but whose income is too high to qualify for council housing.