Scope

Presently, Europe is dealing with a housing crisis because more and more people are finding it hard to afford the increasing costs of housing. This is especially true in big cities where many people are facing challenges. In EU, the prices of houses have gone up over the past few decades, faster than people's incomes. For Europeans, more than 40% of their money goes towards housing costs. The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have made things worse, and in the short and medium term, there might be more housing insecurity and economic problems. This makes it hard for people to pay for their homes, and some may even face eviction and homelessness. Overall, the growing shortage of affordable housing in a large number of Member States is an undeniable factor of increasing inequalities, which becomes in return a high concern for the pursuit of territorial cohesion objectives.

When referring to quality of housing, it's important to point out that it is not just about having a place to live. The European level the New European Bauhaus Initiative highlights the role of good quality of life inside buildings, highlighting as well that arts and housing affordability and quality meet. This is especially important today as the many European cities are undergoing a renovation wave, which is further exacerbated by the demands to safe energy.

As outlined in the ESPON 2030 Thematic Action Plan on Perspectives for all people and places, there is a strong policy demand for analysing the access to housing affordability and quality beyond the national and regional economic indicators. By doing so, a place-based approach focused on the specificities of territories across Europe will be used, taking also into account governance issues and the provision of renovated, energy efficient buildings referred in the European Green Deal.

The main objective of this European research project is to deliver high-quality research that will give recommendations to policymakers at different levels on how to make sure people can have access to affordable and quality housing taking into account European policy goals related to territorial cohesion and the EU Green Deal.

Through observations for the entire ESPON Programme area, including its countries, regions, different types of territories, and various territorial structures, this project will analyse and map housing affordability and quality in Europe. It will also involve a robust participatory approach, featuring a distinguished steering committee and incorporating interviews with key stakeholders during the implementation of case studies. These interviews will complement the quantitative analysis and offer an in-depth understanding of the housing policies currently in practice. The primary purpose of the steering committee is to ensure the policy relevance of project outputs and it includes representatives from various key institutions and organizations, in particular  JRC, EIB, OECD, EUROCITIES, EUROFUND, and the ESPON MC representative from Hungary.

Finally, the concluding part of this project will develop a handbook for policymakers on how to enhance housing affordability and quality in their territories. This guidance will consider key aspects, including access to financing and cohesion mechanisms, cross-sectoral and multi-level cooperation, as well as place-based and integrated policies.

Policy questions

The study will address the following policy questions:

• How to define, from a policy point of view, affordable and quality housing (considering different types of territories and a place-based approach)?
• What public policies regarding affordable and quality housing exist in Europe and how are they designed and implemented?
• How is good governance contributing to the efficient housing policies? Which coordination challenges can be identified and how to solve them?
• Which are the main drivers contributing to make housing less affordable over time and how could these be mitigated, while aiming for long-term sustainable and inclusive territorial development and quality of life at different levels?
• What tools (e.g. financial tools, land value capture, development permitted right…) could help implementing affordable housing policies? How to build capacity on innovative financial instruments, as green bonds or social impact bonds?
• How to reconcile the need for affordable housing and no-land take policies/overcoming land constraint?

Expected results

The main outputs of the service will be:

• A (policy) conceptual framework defining affordable and quality housing.
• A compendium on housing policies in ESPON countries.
• A methodological framework describing how to measure housing affordability and quality considering an integrated place-based approach with a special focus on groups in vulnerable situations.
• Pan-European analysis on housing affordability and quality and case studies on different types of territories.
• A guide or handbook aimed at national, regional and local policy makers on how to promote and implement affordability and quality housing
• Data and interactive maps and graphs which will be showcased in the ESPON Portal

More information

Contractor: Vienna University of Technology (Austria)

Joint Partners: Housing Europe (BE), InAtlas (ES), Metropolitan Research Institute (HU), MCRIT (ES), Politecnico di Milano (IT), Aalto University (FI), Spatial Foresight GmbH (LU)

Contact: 
Nicolas Rossignol (Assistant Director Research & Policy) [email protected] 
Sandra Di Biaggio (Research and Policy Manager) [email protected], Caroline Clause ( Financial and Budget Manager) [email protected]