Strategies and policies
EU countries' common principles and strategies for urban policy are set out in the Leipzig Charter on Sustainable European Cities, including reference to affordable and sustainable housing, and to social housing.
Within the partnership of the Urban Agenda for the EU on housing, the EU countries and cities, the European Commission and stakeholders work together to foster affordable housing of good quality. Measures have been put forward in the areas of state aid for housing, finance and funding, general housing policies and knowledge.
Other links
Report: Fighting homelessness and housing exclusion in Europe (2019)
Social investment package (2013)
Urban data and studies
Land-Use-based Integrated Sustainability Assessment modelling platform (LUISA)
Eurostat: Housing price statistics
Eurostat: European city statistics and degree of urbanisation
Open data portal for European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF)
Funding opportunities and advice
Programmes and funding opportunities
European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)
European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF)
European Investment Project Portal (EIPP)
Urban Innovative Actions (UIA)
For more information and other funding opportunities, please visit our dedicated funding page.
European Energy Efficiency Fund
Joint programming initiative urban Europe
Advice and technical assistance
Urbis is a new dedicated urban investment advisory platform within the European Investment Advisory Hub. It is set up to provide advisory support to urban authorities to facilitate, accelerate and unlock urban investment projects, programmes and platforms.
European Local Energy Assistance (ELENA)
Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions (JASPERS)
JASPERS is the 'Joint Assistance to Support Projects in European Regions', free of charge for local authorities and promotors, which advices cities and regions on strategic planning in a wide range of sectors. It supports the preparation of projects in areas benefiting from EU funds so they meet all the necessary standards.
fi-Compass is a platform for advisory services on financial instruments and is designed to support European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) managing authorities, Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) microfinance providers and other interested parties, by providing practical know-how and learning tools on financial instruments.
References
Beginner's Guide to EU Funding
Accessing regional-policy funds
Networking
UIA & URBACT: Cities engaging in the right to housing
This platform builds on an initiative led by UIA and URBACT in 2020 to exchange practices among city administrations implementing rights-based housing politics.
Project examples
URBACT
Restoring buildings and citizen participation with URBACT
URBACT II
CASH (2009-2012)
The network reduced the energy consumption of buildings and in buildings. It looked for new solutions to renovate social and affordable housing units, in order to improve their energy efficiency (EE) and to influence users' behaviour through citizens' involvement.
RE-Block (2012-2015)
The network fostered efficient regeneration of neighbourhoods, making them more attractive and improving their environmental quality, whilst creating an integrated tailor-made approach to combat poverty.
SUITE (2008-2011)
The network cooperated among partners to optimise a sustainable and affordable supply of housing and to assure social cohesion through social mix and sustainable housing.
Horizon 2020
STORM proposes a set of novel predictive models and improved non-invasive and non-destructive methods of survey and diagnosis for effective prediction of environmental changes and for revealing threats and conditions that could damage cultural heritage sites.
Urban Innovative Actions: projects related to Housing
EU legislation
Directive on the energy performance of buildings