The challenge

The outbreak of the Covid-19 has aggravated precarious living situations and inequalities for vulnerable populations. At times when governments urge their citizens to stay indoors, the need for affordable, decent, and social housing is a pressing issue for many European cities.

But the systematic lack of knowledge about existing housing solutions mostly at city level hampers learning and knowledge exchange about the sector at the EU level. Consequently, it limits the development and supply of social and affordable housing. 

A database to gather the best EU practices

Best EU practices in terms of affordable housing can include the Social Rental Agencies in Flanders, Belgium; the project ‘A Balanced Mix of Residents’ to prevent housing segregation in Denmark; or again a fund for the creation of energy sufficient and modern building creation in Lithuania.

All the above projects (and more) can be found in the following database. This best practice database is issued from the Urban Agenda for the EU Partnership on Housing, more precisely under its Action N°4.

The initiative follows the Better Knowledge strand of priorities from the Partnership. It contains examples collected by the members of the Partnership and refers to best-awarded projects from ERHIN - the European Responsible Housing Initiative Affordable.

Combined with its Action N°5 and N°6, the Partnership on Housing has been committed to the elaboration of a toolkit on affordable housing by also bringing policy guidance and an exchange programme for urban housing professionals.

The overall objective is to raise awareness among stakeholder about housing solutions available, to allow for accelerated learning and, in turn, the development and provision of social housing, which as we now witness is more important than ever.

More information

About Action 4, and the database on Affordable Housing in Cities

About the Housing Action Plan in the Monitoring Table of Actions

About the Partnership on Housing