The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) are seeking partnerships with national promotional banks and international financial institutions to ease funds to support affordable and sustainable housing across Europe, one of the most persistent crises in major urban centres across the EU.
The collaboration, unveiled during the EIB Group Forum in Luxembourg, will start a new platform that will fuse private and public into tackling a growing issue across several EU member states. The partners of this new economic platform are aiming to provide 1.5 million new or renovated housing units across the bloc in the foreseeable future. It will go beyond the support already granted by the Recovery and Resilience Facility and Cohesion Policy Funds currently in place.
Overall, the push will encompass the future European Affordable Housing Plan that the European Commission is drafting, plus the EIB Group’s own Action Plan for Affordable and Sustainable Housing. The action plan includes funding for €10 billion over the next two years to support housing interventions, plus it will help local and national actors to build more affordable homes and improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings.
“Today we are kicking off the work with the EIB, national promotional banks and international financial institutions towards a pan-European investment platform to attract more public and private funding for housing,” said Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing, presenting the project.
Collaboration with other entities like private banks and finance institutions will expand access and allow for better advice. The aim is also to target regions in the EU where the housing market is less mature and where advisors can help achieve full potential and access to funds.
