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Europe, Middle East and Africa

News from our region

Turning Empty Buildings into Homes. How Bytom Shows a New Way Forward in Affordable Housing

December 15, 2025

In the heart of Bytom, a historic 19th-century tenement building on Piekarska Street, Poland, has been given a new life. Long abandoned and deteriorating, the building has been transformed into four warm, safe, and modern apartments, offering families—including Ukrainian refugees and local residents—a chance to call this central Silesian city home. What was once a vacant, neglected property is now a symbol of hope, cooperation, and sustainable urban regeneration. It is proof that solving Europe’s housing crisis does not always require new construction—sometimes it’s about breathing new life into what already exists.

A collage of photos including a mother and a child, and an elderly woman and man

Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company Limited and Habitat for Humanity launch landmark housing microfinance solution in Tanzania

December 15, 2025

Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company (TMRC) signed a memorandum of understanding with Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) in August 2022 to engage in an effort to promote the ability of TMRC in unpacking the potential of Housing Microfinance (HMF) in Tanzania and supporting TMRC to develop and expand its commercial relationships with low-income consumers as a means of increasing their access to affordable and quality housing solutions, a first step in the organizations’ joint-effort to expand and strengthen the low-income housing finance sector in Tanzania.

New housing research. Repurposing Empty Spaces to Address the Housing Crisis in Great Britain

December 15, 2025

Across England, Scotland, and Wales, the housing crisis continues to deepen. Record levels of homelessness, rising temporary accommodation costs, and a chronic shortage of genuinely affordable homes are placing enormous pressure on households and local authorities alike. At the same time, thousands of buildings—many of them publicly owned—sit vacant or underused, representing a missed opportunity to respond more quickly and sustainably to housing need.

Media Contacts

Habitat for Humanity has extensive knowledge of the housing and shelter sector throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa.

For comments and interviews on today’s housing news, we can connect you with spokespeople across the region.

Please contact:

Europe and the Middle east
Katarzyna Jasik-Caínzos
Communications Director, Europe and the Middle East
Phone: +32 478 88 79 08
Email: [email protected]
Africa
Caroline Nyamamu
Communications Director, Africa
Phone: +254 759 067 659
Email: [email protected]

Habitat can also offer detailed information, case studies, and housing research as well as hi-resolution photos to cover regional housing issues or specific problems in a country.

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