Housing Europe

⌨️ In POLITICO Europe today "In less than a month the EU’s first commissioner-designate for housing, Denmark’s Dan Jørgensen, will head to the European Parliament to be grilled by lawmakers on his suitability and plans for the job. Ahead of that hearing, Housing Europe — which represents public, cooperative and social housing providers across the bloc — this week published a list of key actions Brussels can take to address the crisis." 👉 Keep on reading what did we ask for in Aitor Hernández-Morales' Living Cities Newsletter. https://lnkd.in/ea--wuhi

How can the new EU Commission and Parliament lead the way out of the #housingcrisis? 🔴 We are streaming straight from the heart of Brussels, the European Parliament. 100 participants are here to discuss, join us online on YouTube. https://lnkd.in/eKB9DWaz

Why is 18 November an important date? Key players and experts in the field of public, cooperative and social #housing will meet in Milan and discuss funding challenges faced by the sector across Europe🏘️ 🔵The event will be kickstarted by a session during which high-level speakers will set the stage and provide an overview of the current challenges and opportunities in social and affordable housing #finance across Europe. The goal is to bring together the diverse views of European and national policymakers, housing ministers, and financial leaders, establishing a collaborative foundation for the upcoming discussions. 🔵This event is part of the Housing Finance Working Group, launched in June 2023, to foster innovation in financing and governance for sustainable housing. The Annual Responsible Housing Finance Summit, a key element of the group, encourages peer learning and supports the 2024 Liège Declaration’s ambitious goals. 🔵A strategic summit of Housing Europe Leaders, focused on shaping the sector's future and improving outcomes for tenants and residents, will proceed the event, while a hands-on workshop organised by the European Investment Bank (EIB) will take place the following day. Check the event page for more information and stay tuned for more highlights➡️https://lnkd.in/eHjcQGyn Co-hosted by Legacoop Abitanti, Legacoop Lombardia With the contribution of: Regione Lombardia, Laudes Foundation, CEB - Council of Europe Development Bank Mario Nava, Carlo Monticelli, Bent Madsen, Rossana Zaccaria, Laurent Ghekiere, Amaryllis Verhoeven, Marco Buttieri, Samir Kulenovic, Peter Surek BL - Danmarks Almene Boliger, Irish Council for Social Housing, The Land Development Agency, NRW.BANK, The Housing Agency Ireland, AVS Gestores Públicos, FEDERCASA, GEBALIS, Erste Group, Aedes vereniging van woningcorporaties, Fitch Ratings

Reporting from the UN Headquarters in Geneva🇨🇭 The European Union has 1️⃣ 9️⃣ financial programmes geared to close the widening investment gap in affordable homes, including the Social Climate Fund expected to run between 2026 and 2032. 🏁 Spoiler alert: these funds alone would not close the enormous gap for decent, affordable homes. First, we must make sure that EU money is not leaving out the most vulnerable. Second, for these funds to be absorbed for the right reasons, they must strike a balance between being simple enough to use and ensuring that the value that they generate keeps investments by governments in the system. "Governments need to stop slashing public investment and start stepping up," Housing Europe's Senior Policy Officer, Edit Lakatos stressed at the meeting of UNECE Housing and Land Management Unit which brings ministries and agencies dealing with housing, economic development, and urban planning from 50+ countries. "With a new Commissioner for Energy and Housing, we have a unique moment to make housing a basic social right for everyone in Europe." Edit urged the need for swift collaboration with the new Commissioner to tackle the housing crisis across the EU's 27 Member States, emphasising the importance of policies based on solid data and facts. Exactly 3 years after the breakthrough #Housing2030 report by Housing Europe, UNECE and UN-Habitat showed effective policies for affordable housing in the UN Headquarters, we reminded that the report must become the go-to document for any decision maker working on housing. Which governments have got things right? What are the pros and cons of tested housing policies? What is the price of inaction? 🏠 https://lnkd.in/ec-E72H8

Housing agenda is at the cusp. 🎯 Now is the moment to speak up and shape where and how we live. Public, cooperative, and social housing providers have done their homework. On October 15, we will propose 20 concrete actions to form the work of the designated 🇪🇺 Energy and Housing Commissioner, Dan Jørgensen. There are a few seats left for Housing Europe's debate at the European Parliament, hosted by MEP Marcos Ros Sempere. 🔗 Register by midday on October 7 - https://lnkd.in/emjb5jDh What is at stake? 🟠 Across our Union, families are being priced out of their homes. 🟠 Young adults from big or touristic cities are forced to leave their hometowns because they can't afford housing where they work. 🟠 Our elderly struggle to age in place with dignity, lacking access to essential services. 🟠 More than one out of ten Europeans can't keep their homes warm, and energy demands for cooling are set to rise. 🟠 New housing construction is also under threat: building permits at the beginning of 2024 plummeted by 32% compared to two years ago, reaching a 9-year low. 🟥 Meanwhile, speculative housing markets and limited public resources are leaving nearly 1.3 million people in the EU without a place to call home, even as thousands of prime location homes remain vacant. 🟢 Housing Europe says: It's finally time for change. We are bringing together public, cooperative, and social housing providers with tenant organisations and social services from across Europe for the event. Kim van Sparrentak Ruth Paserman Ruth Owen Barbara Steenbergen Bent Madsen Sorcha Edwards International Union of Tenants (IUT) FEANTSA European Investment Bank (EIB) Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament The Greens/EFA in the European Parliament

📢Key players in #housing and finance are invited to Milan this November, to tackle the funding challenges faced by housing providers, municipalities, and companies across Europe🏘️ The advancement of the Renovation Wave and the New European Bauhaus is fundamental at the moment, especially with the designation of an EU Commissioner responsible also for housing.⚡ This event is part of our Housing Finance Working Group, launched in June 2023, to drive innovation in #financing and governance for sustainable housing. The Annual Responsible Housing Finance Summit, a cornerstone of the Working Group, promotes peer learning and supports the ambitious goals of the 2024 Liège Declaration. With ministerial interventions, the support of the CEB - Council of Europe Development Bank or a hands-on workshop organised by the European Investment Bank (EIB) on November 19, this is a must-attend event for anyone committed to solving the housing crisis. The session will be preceded by a strategic summit of the Housing Europe Leaders, which will focus on shaping the future of the sector, steering it toward better outcomes for tenants and residents.💡 For more information and registration➡️https://lnkd.in/eHjcQGyn Mario Nava, Carlo Monticelli, Bent Madsen, Rossana Zaccaria, Laurent Ghekiere, Amaryllis Verhoeven, Marco Buttieri, Samir Kulenovic, Peter Surek BL - Danmarks Almene Boliger, Legacoop Abitanti, Irish Council for Social Housing, The Land Development Agency, NRW.BANK, The Housing Agency Ireland, AVS Gestores Públicos, FEDERCASA, GEBALIS, @Erste Group, Aedes vereniging van woningcorporaties, Fitch Ratings

🚩 The risk of using the word "affordable" housing too loosely is that we miss the deeper social responsibility we have as a society. While tackling housing affordability is vital and urgent, we must not lose sight of homelessness and the most vulnerable. Today, at a critical juncture as the European Commission and Parliament teams that will be working on housing are being formed, our Secretary General, Sorcha Edwards delivered this critical message at the European Economic and Social Committee. She insisted that to make informed decisions, we also need better data that shows the true picture of housing across Europe. This will help us push for policies that work for everyone, not just a select few. A guiding compass for future meetings of EU housing ministers should be the #Housing2030 report which offers 160+ real solutions that have made a difference in land policy, better governance, sustainable housing, and better finance. https://lnkd.in/ehx6XZz3 Sorcha reminded that housing touches so many parts of our lives, from energy to social inclusion. ▪▪▪ 💡 energy 🌎 climate action 🤰 social affairs 🏙 regional development 📈 growth 📊 competition 💳 economy and finance 👦 youth and culture ▪▪▪ This is why the next European Commissioner must connect the dots and bring different EU policy departments to look at all different angles that impact where people in Europe live.

On October 15, Housing Europe and MEPs will come together for a groundbreaking moment in European policy: for the first time, housing has become a responsibility to a 🇪🇺 Commissioner. This is not just a political milestone, but a crucial step towards making housing a social right, not a privilege. Hosted by MEP Marcos Ros Sempere at the European Parliament, this session brings real voices from across Europe—public, cooperative, and social housing providers but also tenants organisations and social services on the frontline of housing issues—to share experiences and shape the 🗺 EU Affordable Housing Plan. Join us in this push for a fairer society where public, cooperative, and social housing are central to reducing inequality and encouraged to continue giving people the security of a decent home that is close to jobs, schools, kindergartens, shops and transport. The reset to a #NewHousingParadigm is in the making now. 🔗 Be part of it and register today - https://lnkd.in/emjb5jDh

Members of the Housing Europe team went to Sønderborg, Denmark, to talk about #energy efficient measures, demonstrated in housing associations connected to district heating networks⚡🏠 Housing agencies presented examples of what can be done to increase the usage of #renewable energy through renovation. For example, 3,000 square meters of solar panels produced enough energy for 432 homes, with a surplus being sold to cover about 36% of the total energy expenses for one year.☀️ Clara Mafé, our Innovation and project officer, presented an overview of the policy landscape in energy and social housing sector funding. She highlighted the strong commitment of the public, cooperative and social housing sector to implement a fair energy transition. One example is French social housing, with 46% of its stock having the A, B or C energy labels. Nevertheless, substantial effort is still required. She went through the three most impacting pieces of European legislation: 🔵Energy Efficiency Directive 🔵Energy Performance of Buildings Directive 🔵Renewable Energy Directive Then she also mentioned a few funding options, representing different solutions for the sector: 🔵Social Climate Fund 🔵EIB loan 🔵project development services financed by ELENA A full Funding guide was prepared as part of the European Affordable Housing Consortium, SHAPE-EU➡️https://lnkd.in/e_MQ5yQM The session took the shape of a technical seminar, organised as part of the Green Deal ARV project, focused on establishing #circular communities across Europe.

Fantastic to see that our proposal for a #NewHousingParadigm is gaining traction in Brussels. Now, in Red Cross EU Office's opinion piece in the EUobserver. "So the stakes are high for Jørgensen as commissioner-designate for energy and housing. While the Union does not have direct authority over national housing policy, it has the tools to play a decisive role in pushing for a way out of the housing crisis. Embracing a new housing paradigm that acknowledges the social value of housing and meaningfully involves the social economy sector in policy discussions is the best place to start. Europe’s first commissioner responsible for housing should support a vision that restores housing to its fundamental role as a cornerstone of social inclusion and integral to the fabric of Europe." https://lnkd.in/eT42R8Ae