Who should benefit from affordable housing? Defining households in need Sorcha EDWARDS and Alice PITTINI, Housing Europe 2022.gada 7.jūlijs

1. Who should benefit from affordable
housing? Defining households in need
Sorcha Edwards & Alice Pittini –
Housing Europe
EESC Conference Affordable and
sustainable housing in the EU
6 July 2022

2. Better Information, Finance & Regulation | EU policy and housing
Energy & Construction Economic & Financial Affairs
Social Affairs
Urban Affairs Housing Observatory
2

3. #Housing2030 study with the UN
on policies for affordable housing

4. 4

5. The richness of
the Housing Europe Network
43,000 local housing organisations
25 countries
24,936,000 dwellings
roughly 200,000 new dwellings per year
over 200,000 dwellings refurbished per year
roughly €40bn in new investment per year
7,500+ staff employed by the federations
300,000+ staff employed by local providers
One goal
To provide decent & affordable
housing for all

6. The Brussels Office

7. The biennial compass of the sector
www.stateofhousing.eu

8. Social housing in Europe

9. For whom?
• The most common way is the use of income
ceilings
• Access criteria can also be defined according
criteria of need (homelessness, unhealthy
accommodation, over-occupation, forced
cohabitation, etc)
• In some cases open only for certain target
groups (elderly or disabled persons, families
with children…)
• The eligibility is not always absolutely
restricted
• + criteria for priority, often system of
reservation by municipalities
• + Social mix is also one of the main criteria

10. Evolutions in allocation
• more transparency/control
• single registers
• right to housing/priority target groups
• choice based lettings

11. Levels of governance?
• Central governments usually make
the rules about who is permitted to live
in social housing, while local
governments or landlords determine
whether individual households fulfil
those requirements
• However the specific income ceilings or
additional criteria are set at the
regional or local level to reflect local
needs & housing markets
• Importance of housing needs
assessment

12. Local context • Most cities way
above 30% of net
income affordability
threshold
• Based on two
income household
(one average
income, one 2/3 of
average)
• Almost impossible
for single-income
households
• Low-income
households also
struggle
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
B
o
n
n
L
y
o
n
K
a
r
l
s
r
u
h
e
B
r
u
s
s
e
l
s
B
e
r
l
i
n
V
a
r
e
s
e
M
u
n
i
c
h
T
h
e
H
a
g
u
e
V
i
e
n
n
a
L
u
x
e
m
b
o
u
r
g
P
a
r
i
s
C
o
p
e
n
h
a
g
e
n
T
a
l
l
i
n
n
N
i
c
o
s
i
a
H
e
l
s
i
n
k
i
L
j
u
b
l
j
a
n
a
S
t
o
c
k
h
o
l
m
S
o
f
i
a
W
a
r
s
a
w
V
i
l
n
i
u
s
D
u
b
l
i
n
B
r
a
t
i
s
l
a
v
a
M
a
d
r
i
d
R
o
m
e
R
i
g
a
B
u
c
h
a
r
e
s
t
P
r
a
g
u
e
Z
a
g
r
e
b
V
a
l
l
e
t
t
a
B
u
d
a
p
e
s
t
A
t
h
e
n
s
L
i
s
b
o
n
1-Bed (%) 2-Bed (%)
%
Unweighted average (2-bed): 45.5%
Unweighted average (1-bed): 33.6%

13. Evolutions in housing needs
• Increasing waiting lists. How to
increase supply in critical times
• ‘competing’ target groups? pressure
from both sides of the spectrum: most
vulnerable – middle classes (in urban
areas). Range of options (from Housing
First to affordable housing) adapted to
local needs
• diversification of demands/needs:
elderly, youth, migrants, collaborative
practices, more sustainable cities.
Housing plus... approach

14. Radical increase in cost of Living
Resilience = affordable energy efficient housing &
transport
•Inflation rose to 7.8 % in March 2022
•36% of this is explained by the cost of
electricity,
•gas and other household fuels
•16% is explained by the cost of petrol and
diesel
•15% is explained by food and beverage
prices
Basically, if you are low-income and live in a
poorly insulated house, need a car to travel
and
have a large family to feed, you are really
struggling at the moment.

15. Jump in price of construction materials
•Our network reports a slowdown of
over 60% of renovation and new build in
energy efficiency renovation projects
due to erratic and rapid increase in
prices
• Price caps in the sector in some
countries are bringing projects to a halt
•For EU funded renovation projects this
is to be taken into account as many
Next Generation EU recovery fund
projects are subject to short deadlines
as a condition to receive funding
• Need to consider structural issues such
as need for increased standardisation &
industrialisation to solve supply chain
issues

16. 16

17. district approach
Potsdam Drewitz: Results and
Conclusion of renovation of social
housing estate
Renewable self consumption in
social housing, Bordeaux
3.2 t
CO2
per unit
0.2
t
CO
2
per
uni
t
0.9
t
CO
2
per
uni
t
To reduce CO2 emissions, we need a

18. Sweden
Holistic Neighbourhood Approach
No-go Area
Before and
After

19. “IMPLEMENTATION”
BLUEPRINT
• Temporary accommodation for tenants during renovation period.
• Deliver SME-friendly, innovation and partnership procurement targeting social housing.
• Attract and include private capital (e.g., use social and green bonds) as a source for funding lighthouse
districts.
• Ensure cost-neutrality for residents after the renovation operation.
• Team up with local authorities for the uptake of new technologies targeting social and affordable housing.
• Tackle renovation of multi-apartment blocks, including multi-ownership challenges.
• Architectural and design approaches that allow in individual housing buildings to address a combination of
purposes: housing, economic, leisure, nature, etc.
How to…

20. “SOCIAL
INNOVATION”
BLUEPRINT
• combine different target groups such as intergenerational, single parents, people in need, people with disabilities,
but also income-related combinations or other aspects that counteract segregated housing.
• Ensure co-creation (priority for residents’ engagement models) in the process of renovating social and affordable
homes
• Develop different models of co-ownership or shared ownership of accommodation or certain utilities such as energy,
shared mobility services, equipment, etc.
• Consider the role of mediators and mediation techniques to align different interests that might promote or hamper
district renovations.
How to…

21. “TECHNICAL”
BLUEPRINT
• Put in place modular building systems.
• Maximize circularity in renovation and construction of the districts.
• Ensure energy efficiency at district-level by combining different sources of energy and respecting regulatory
requirements.
• Tackle split incentives.
• Digitise social housing service provision (for example, customer relations, energy monitoring, waste collection) in an
affordable, adaptable and purpose driven manner.
• Approaches for spatial planning and urban planning of districts to make a combination of purposes possible (housing,
economic, leisure, nature, etc.)
• Exploration of projects’ aggregation.
• Promote industrialised packages (standardised renovation solutions).
How to…

22. Affordable Housing Initiative
European Affordable Housing
Consortium: Sustainable
Housing for Social Impact
(SHAPE_EU)
16/03/2021

23. In conclusion
• Decarbonization regulations, if not well designed, could
disrupt the balance between affordability, availability and
sustainability
• European Social Housing Providers have identified the
following risk:
• Risk of negative socio-economic impact from decreasing housing affordability: members of Housing
Europe flag the issue that lack of affordable housing is an increasing problem especially in urban areas
• Risk of increasing costs impacting affordable housing supply: some factors are worsening affordable
housing supply including construction costs, delays due to disruption in the supply chain and unfulfilled
demand for labour and skills in the construction sector. The availability and cost of land also deteriorates
affordability. Last but not least, many point at a tension between affordability and energy efficiency
standards/requirements, but at the same time the green transition provides opportunities for innovation
and positive impact for residents and the environment.

24. Thank you
Stay connected!
Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
@HousingEurope