Housing Europe

Housing is at a tipping point, and voices are becoming louder and louder. Knowledge, tried policies, values, and innovation must cut through the noise and reach policymakers, especially when it comes to an essential right–housing. This is what we have been working on at Housing Europe for almost a year. On our brand new website, we are showing the human face of the public, cooperative, and social housing sector, but also the wealth of knowledge that we receive from 43,000 committed organisations in 31 European countries. Insights about the sector, policy opinion based on facts and growndwork, some of the most quoted reports on housing, best practices, innovation, articles, events, podcasts, a monthly newsletter read by 1,500 subscribers - all in one spot. Who helped us to make this happen? karma.agency and Juliette Moyart turned that long list of wishes into reality. Christophe Drèze, General Manager of Karma: “Housing Europe is a prime example of the type of projects karma.agency specialises in – collaborating with organisations within the European sphere who have a positive impact on people and the planet. Organisations like this deserve a louder voice and a brighter spotlight – which is exactly what the new housingeurope.eu delivers." Same web address, but the sector shines brighter. Take a look. https://lnkd.in/gkE72Nf

Why can housing cooperatives be a key player in Europe’s Affordable #Housing Future?🏘️ This is what we try to answer in the newest Housing Europe briefing📑 With increasing momentum at the EU level and a new Affordable Housing Plan in the making, it’s crucial to recognize the diversity of housing systems and solutions across Europe. A third way exists—beyond government intervention and market-driven approaches.💡 Not-for-profit providers, including housing #cooperatives, play a vital role in ensuring affordability, resilience, and social cohesion. With over 7 million homes across Europe, cooperatives are a force to be reckoned with. Our Research Director Alice Pittini highlighted this during EU Civil Society Week, where we put forward a dedicated policy brief emphasizing the need to support and expand cooperative housing models to meet evolving societal needs.🫱🏼🫲🏼 It’s time to integrate these solutions into the EU’s housing agenda! Read the full brief➡️https://lnkd.in/eyaEJXUJ #CivSocWeek Cooperatives Europe

Advancing a just energy transition: the role of housing and energy #cooperatives ⚡🏘️ Today, at the conference on cooperatives as drivers of change, we discussed how cooperatives are supporting a just energy transition—ensuring affordability, inclusivity, and sustainability in housing and energy. Rossana Zaccaria president of Legacoop Abitanti, presented what cooperatives are doing in the Italian context. She mentioned that with the European Commissioner in their first mandate for housing, this is a pivotal time to push for innovative solutions Just last week, the European Investment Bank (EIB) launched its guidelines for the Pan-European Investment Platform for Affordable Housing, marking an important step in mobilizing resources. Legacoop Abitanti is helping citizens access affordable housing, leveraging mutualism and democratic traditions to promote energy communities. 🔹In Ferrara, the Castello Green House cooperative already has 15 members and has achieved 40% energy savings. 🔹Another inspiring example is the Cooperativa Habitare, that has invested over €200 million, involving 8,000 families and owning 3,000 dwellings—a significant effort, particularly as many elderly residents had to be reeducated on energy transition practices. Main takeaway? Tapping into strategic municipal frameworks is key to securing substantial support, such as Milan’s goal to be one of 100 EU cities to reach climate neutrality by 2030. It’s important to reorganise the funds available at the moment, as optimising them would be a huge help to promote more energy communities. ‘The goal of energy transition is not about increasing profits’. Cooperatives Europe #IYC2025

A symbolic moment took place during the Cooperative Leadership Forum: cooperatives from all sectors reinforced their commitment to bring forward the cause of the #cooperative movement🤝 Bent Madsen represented Housing Europe and its members at the launch of the International Year of Cooperatives. The key message? Social economy and the cooperative movement can make a vital contribution to the economic development, and they need to be brought forward into the spotlight🔦 Stay tuned to find out more on what role do #housing cooperatives play🏘️ #IYC2025

📣 Calling experts in sustainable construction and renovation 📣 Are you ready to help your peers boost their skills and knowledge? Apply to become an Affordable Housing Initiative mentor by 28th March https://lnkd.in/e7J7zskE You should apply if you have skills in any of the following: ✅ Built environment efficiency ✅ Low carbon & resilient buildings ✅ Nature based solutions ✅ Inclusive communities ✅ Financing ✅ Place-based or district level approaches ✅Sustainable mobility ✅ Digitalisation ✅ Project design and delivery

If you want to learn more on how to combine #social sustainability with #energy efficiency, we invite you to join the Housing Europe team at the syn.ikia EU project Final Conference⚡ With our Project and Innovation Officer Clara Mafé moderating the event, our Secretary General Sorcha Edwards will discuss challenges and opportunities of the social, public and cooperative housing sector, and our Policy Director Julien DIJOL will go into some more detail on what is needed regarding the #policy framework for #housing.🏘️

At the European Investment Bank (EIB) forum in Luxemburg today, Housing Europe’s President Bent Madsen shared 3 ways to better finance sustainable housing systems: 🏘️ Reinforce entities that manage to bundle projects Enable the bundling of small projects,  💶  link the provision of financial support to the long-term affordability of the homes  🙋♀️ Talk and exchange with those working on the ground Read more and watch the discussion: https://lnkd.in/grxd9FHa Specific solutions depend on the national context, but the use of intermediaries is key. In countries like France (Caisse des depots) or Ireland (the Housing Agency), intermediaries are successfully supporting the bundling of projects - and this work should be reinforced. In others, more support is needed on providing guarantees, the right conditionalities to make sure that funds are used for projects which will remain affordable to residents in the long term, and technical assistance. The way forward is dialogue between housing providers, intermediaries and banks. This exchange of ideas and solutions helps develop custom solutions for different contexts. Housing Europe's Responsible Housing Finance Working Group, which includes the EIB is doing just that. Addressing the crisis requires moving quickly and at scale; addressing inequalities and ensuring sustainability requires a systemic and long-term approach which will keep investment circulating. That means investing with local actors who can provide custom, community-based solutions to complex problems, and investing in capacity building.

We continue looking at a bold new approach to sustainable living—neighbourhoods that don’t just cut energy use but actually generate more than they consume. To help us answer that, we were joined by Ciarán Cuffe, recently elected Co-President of the European Greens and a key architect of the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) in the past EU mandate. We discuss why the neighbourhood approach is essential for decarbonising Europe’s building stock, the biggest political and practical barriers to scaling up SPENs, and how the social housing sector can play a leading role in this transition. Find out what he told us in this new podcast episode of Housing Europe's "Making a house a home show". 🎧 https://lnkd.in/ecusj_TV The episode is powered by the syn_ikiaEU EU-funded project. If you want to learn more about how social housing has been rolling out Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods in different corners of Europe, you can join the final conference. https://lnkd.in/ey2HnGWh 🗓️ March 24, 2025, Committee of the Regions, Brussels

Read Housing Europe's February newsletter and stay ahead of the curve on critical developments. 🚩 At an IMCO hearing, we stressed the need to support Europe’s unique social housing fabric, and urged that new housing must serve people, not speculation. In discussions with ECON MEPs, our Secretary-General underlined the importance of the European Investment Bank’s role, calling for more than just loans—grants and de-risking measures are essential to support the sector’s long-term viability. ⌛ Crunch time for Europe’s housing investment—next week, the EIB Forum will host the first-ever presentation of the Pan-European Housing Investment Platform. Housing Europe President Bent Madsen will showcase how the initiative can scale up proven solutions with EU and national backing. He’ll join top figures like EIB President Nadia Calviño, Commissioner Dan Jørgensen, and EP Housing Chair Irene Tinagli to push for coordinated action. 🥳 330 event ideas for ISHF - International Social Housing Festival are already giving us major FOMO. 80+ housing projects in Europe are also competing for 6 European Responsible Housing Awards. 🎧 Two podcasts with current and former MEPs in which we return to a crucial question: how can we achieve a fair energy transition while ensuring access to affordable, sustainable housing? & much more. https://lnkd.in/ebbjzEx3

Today, we echo the words of Mario Nava from the European Commission’s Directorate for Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion: Housing is not just a market problem, but also a social one, with direct consequences on labour mobility, demography, and the ability to become independent. This is why we advocate for the European Commission’s Housing Taskforce, with key priorities outlined by Matthew Baldwin, Deputy Director-General of DG ENER: ✔️ State aid ✔️ Investment and funding ✔️ Speculation & financialisation ✔️ Short-term rentals 🚩 Yet, one crucial element must come across more in the conversation: strong conditionality. While we hear institutional banks highlighting the "Prodi dilemma"—the challenge of aggregating small-scale social infrastructure projects to attract investment—the question remains: how do we ensure that financing truly serves those in need, preventing financialisation and speculation in the long-term? At Housing Europe, we believe that investment must come with safeguards to keep social and affordable housing accessible for decades. And we know that this is possible because it is already being done. 🔹 Denmark’s National Building Fund: A proven model for long-term social and affordable housing investment At an event by the European Policy Centre, our President, Bent Madsen, highlighted how Denmark has successfully ensured stability in its social and affordable housing sector for over 50 years through the National Building Fund (Landsbyggefonden). ✅ Self-financing instead of market-driven cycles Unlike many housing investment schemes that fluctuate with economic cycles, the Danish model ensures stable, long-term financing. The Fund prevents pro-cyclical investments—where housing supply peaks in good times but collapses during downturns—by maintaining consistent funding for renovation and construction. ✅ Tenant-funded, solidarity-based The National Building Fund is not financed by public money but by tenants themselves. Established in 1967 through a broad political agreement, the Fund collects compulsory contributions from tenants in social and affordable housing. Once the mortgage loans used to finance the initial construction of housing estates are repaid, those repayments are reinvested into the sector, creating a circular funding mechanism that ensures ongoing financial sustainability. ✅ Supporting affordable rents and strong communities The Fund finances: 🔹 New social and affordable housing construction 🔹 Renovation and energy efficiency improvements 🔹 Accessibility upgrades for elderly and disabled residents 🔹 Social cohesion initiatives, such as employment and education programmes Every 4–6 years, the Danish Parliament sets priorities for the Fund through political agreements, ensuring that investments align with long-term social goals while maintaining financial independence. 🇩🇰 A model to learn from, what’s not to like? Watch the full session of the EPC today - https://lnkd.in/ewyKyUUd