Housing crisis: Paris joins forces with Brussels – social housing hub is launched

Brussels – Bringing together the state, public banks, and European institutions to find the funds and tools needed to build more social and affordable housing. This is the idea behind the  New French National Hub for Social Housing, a medium-term and sustainable initiative, launched today (23 September) in Paris with the signing of a declaration of intent between the French government, the Caisse des Dépôts, the Union sociale pour l’habitat, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB). For Brussels, the European housing plan presented last December is beginning to bear fruit. The first example comes from a French initiative, supported by the European Commission and forming part of the European Plan for Affordable Housing. The plan, championed by the Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, stems from the need to tackle a crisis characterised by rising prices and rents, a slowdown in new-build construction and increasing difficulties for many families in accessing housing.

The French model aims above all to transform European resources into “concrete projects.” The new Hub is intended to make the available European financial instruments – ranging from loans and guarantees to funding for technical assistance – more visible and accessible to project promoters. The main objective will be “to support social housing and accommodation facilities, but also to increase the supply of affordable housing,” according to the press release. 

It is not just about funding. The platform will also provide technical support to project developers, share expertise, and identify the obstacles that are holding back the construction and refurbishment of housing. The five organisations involved will also work to map out the investment needs in the social and intermediate housing sectors. 

The French initiative is not starting from scratch. The new Hub builds on the legacy of the European Alliance for Sustainable and Inclusive Social Housing launched in France in 2020 by Caisse des Dépôts, Union sociale pour l’habitat, the EIB, and the CEB. That collaboration has already made it possible to mobilise European resources through the Banque des Territoires to finance social housing and specialist facilities. 

The new development now is the scaling up of the initiative and the direct involvement of the French State. The idea is to create a stable link between national and European resources, making it easier for funding to reach where it is needed: in concrete housing projects. This is one of the objectives set out by the Commission in its December Plan, which identifies increasing the supply of affordable housing as one of the cornerstones of the response to the crisis, alongside the mobilisation of public and private investment, the reduction of construction costs and the simplification of procedures.

 The European plan had also addressed the issue of short-term lettings, seeking a balance between tourism and the availability of housing in the areas under the greatest pressure. The French case, however, highlights the other side of the European strategy: not only regulating what already exists, but creating the financial conditions to build and renovate what is lacking.