More homes. Better homes

A key role is played by cohesion policy, which has a long-standing tradition of supporting housing – making it more green, resilient and affordable. At the end of 2024, €7.5 billion of the EU budget was planned for housing in the cohesion policy programmes for the 2021-2027 period, mainly supporting energy efficiency of housing stock and social housing for vulnerable groups. Details are available in the story how cohesion policy supports housing at the Cohesion open data platform.

In the context of the European Affordable Housing Plan, the Commission will allow Member States to double the planned cohesion policy investments in affordable housing. The Commission services and the European Investment Bank are developing a model for financial instruments for affordable housing aiming to help the managing authorities to set up financial instruments contributing to support for housing.  

The Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) is supporting a series of significant reforms and investments in housing across Member States. It is estimated that the full implementation of social housing investments can lead to 147 000 new or renovated dwellings in the EU.

Key reforms and investments included in the Recovery and Resilience Plans support social and affordable housing; energy efficiency renovations, including support for low-income families, people experiencing energy poverty, and other disadvantaged groups; emergency and temporary housing for vulnerable groups; reforms targeting the housing market, through legislative initiatives.

Several RRF measures that contribute to social housing also contribute to other RRF objectives, such as improving energy efficiency of existing building stock or ensuring that new buildings are compliant with energy efficiency criteria spelt out in relevant EU directives.

Thanks to the €26.2 billion EU guarantee, the InvestEU Fund is expected to mobilise more than €372 billion of additional investment across the EU, including in the area of social, affordable and sustainable housing. To date, more than 10 InvestEU Implementing Partners are deploying or planning to deploy equity and debt products (EIB Group, and other implementing partners like National Promotional Banks and International Financial institutions) to support social and affordable housing under the Social Investment and Skills Window.

Implementing Partners are also supporting energy efficiency for households under the SME Window and the Sustainable Infrastructure Window. Finally, innovation, i.e. technology and services, in the sector is supported with financial products under the Research, Innovation and Digitalisation Window. 

The InvestEU Advisory Hub, the central entry point for project promoters and intermediaries seeking advisory support and technical assistance, is also supporting housing, with several advisory partners providing support in this area, in particular, the EIB through the European Local ENergy Assistance - which helps local and regional authorities enhance their capacity to develop and implement energy-efficient residential projects, thereby facilitating investment in affordable, sustainable housing solutions across the EU -, the Council of Europe Development Bank and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, the Italian National Promotional Institution.

Launched in December 2023, the European Energy Efficiency Financing Coalition aims to substantially increase private financing in energy efficiency, supporting the implementation of the Energy Efficiency Directive and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and ultimately contributing to the EU’s energy and climate objectives. It brings together the European Commission, the 27 EU Member States, financial institutions and other relevant stakeholders, and combines the necessary political perspective and ownership at EU Member State level.

One of the first work priorities is to discuss and propose measures to direct more capital toward energy efficiency investments in the real estate sector, including residential, for a more sustainable and accessible building stock.

The LIFE Clean Energy Transition sub-programme supports amongst other one-stop-shops for energy renovations, skills development, and actions to tackle energy poverty and negative housing conditions. It also facilitates the uptake of industrialised energy renovation solutions, provides project development assistance for energy renovations in social and public housing, offers technical support to cities and fosters investments.

Housing-related reforms and investments are also facilitated by the Technical Support Instrument (TSI), which has an annual call for requests for support. Acting in complementarity with RRF and cohesion policy funds, the TSI can support Member States in the design and implementation of housing reforms and facilitate exchange of expertise and good practices across the EU.

From 2026, the Social Climate Fund - European Commission will also be deployed to support the most vulnerable households facing energy poverty.

With over 450 member organisations present in over 40 countries and in all regions of the EU, the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) provides a number of services to advise and support companies on access to finance, innovation, digitalisation, international partnering and sustainability with dedicated services such as the tailored financial advice and support, Sustainability advisors, the Supply Chain Resilience platform to help companies tackle bottlenecks and discover partnerships to transport their products or source what they need.

Fighting homelessness is also central for the EU. The 2021 Lisbon Declaration launched the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness to work towards the eradication of homelessness and to promote policies based on a person-centred, housing-led and integrated approach.