Advocacy resources
Europe, Middle East and Africa
Housing in Europe
Affordable Housing in Central and Eastern Europe
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The unprecedented increase in housing and energy prices, along with the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, have exacerbated the problem of affordable housing in the EU. The discussion on how to address the need for affordable housing by utilizing vacant homes has been ongoing for decades in Europe, and recently this topic has also been taken up at the EU level.
Habitat for Humanity believes that reusing and regenerating housing resources aligns with the principles of the circular economy, climate mitigation, and environmental protection, and can contribute to social and cultural inclusion. In this brief, we put forward policy recommendations for the EU, national and local levels that forward an affordable, inclusive and sustainable vision for the European housing sector.
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On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, devastating cities, destroying critical infrastructure, and forcing
millions of people to leave their homes.
Habitat for Humanity International has been responding to the immense housing need in neighboring countries since
the onset of the conflict, devising immediate, mid-term and long-term solutions for refugees and their housing needs.
Habitat recognizes that each country has a unique affordable housing context and had various challenges in ensuring
access to adequate and affordable housing for individuals even before the conflict. With the influx of individuals in
need, it is imperative to identify solutions for mid- and long-term housing for refugees as they continue to be
displaced, based on the respective structures of each country’s housing system.
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This policy brief depicts housing issues and the role heretofore assumed by EC-policies, and provides recommendations for the EC as well as the member state level. The brief gives an interpretation of the nature of the housing problem in Europe emphasizing its differences in the developed and less developed part of Europe, and an overview of the existing policies at European level and member states, and gives recommendations.
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Europe’s middle- and lower-income groups are facing a major housing crisis. According to the European Union’s statistics agency, Eurostat, 3 million people in the region were homeless in 2010, while 17 percent were ill-housed, meaning they lived in poor conditions or were threatened with losing their home. The situation has improved little in the past five years.
The 2015 Housing Review from Habitat for Humanity aims to shape the debate around Europe’s multitude of housing policies. The review looks at the latest European housing crisis through three themes:
- Affordability — getting people into housing and keeping them there.
- Sustainability — building energy-efficient, environmentally friendly residential housing and living spaces.
- Livability — creating communities of the future through social integration and community building.
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This research covers the housing situation of Roma, the largest European minority, in nine countries; five members of the European Union (Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria), and four candidate countries (Serbia, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Ukraine). It encompasses an evaluation of existing information sourced from multiple governmental and non-governmental bodies, as well as gathering fresh qualitative data through individual and group interviews, including focus groups. This data was obtained from a range of stakeholders, including central and local decision-makers, civil society representatives, and, most importantly, the primary beneficiaries.
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The Habitat for Humanity EU Manifesto 2024-2029 outlines urgent priorities for addressing the housing crisis in the European Union. It emphasizes the need for affordable rental options, leveraging vacant properties, combating energy poverty, and promoting inclusivity in housing policies. The manifesto calls for collaborative efforts among EU Member States to tackle these challenges and improve living conditions for vulnerable populations.
Read the full manifesto to explore the proposed strategies and initiatives here.
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Europe is facing growing housing crisis. Habitat for Humanity Europe and Middle East has provided key recommendations and feedback to help shape the first-ever European Affordable Housing Plan.
Habitat’s position paper emphasizes the adaptive reuse of vacant buildings and spaces as a sustainable and effective alternative to new construction. This approach can help address the housing crisis while also tackling related challenges such as the affordability crisis, curbing urban sprawl, and supporting climate and circular economy goals.
The paper reflects Habitat’s daily work across Europe and globally, offering practical, people-centered solutions to the housing crisis.
Read the full Position Paper on European Affordable Housing Plan here.
Residential energy efficiency and energy poverty
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In relation to the EU Renovation Wave, Habitat for Humanity International wants to highlight the special case of the new Member States, and countries of Central and Eastern Europe regarding residential energy efficiency. In this broad region, the housing stock consists of a significant percentage of multi-apartment blocks built during the socialist era with low levels of energy efficiency. Mass privatization in the 1990s resulted in owner-occupation rates from 80 to over 90%. These buildings are managed through Home-owner associations.
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Since Habitat for Humanity started working on scaling up financing for owner-occupied multiapartment buildings in the Western Balkans and in Armenia more than a decade ago, we have been always very keen on reflecting and evaluating on what we did in the field, capturing the key learnings, and publishing research to support market development and policy advocacy work.
This publication is the first product of a new initiative of Habitat for Humanity International, the Residential Energy Efficiency (REE) Observatory in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and includes articles on various topics such as:
- How energy efficiency retrofits contribute to energy poverty alleviation
- Gap analysis of the housing sector in Western Balkan countries
- Solutions for scaling up renovations for energy efficiency in multi-apartment residential buildings
- Household use of firewood in Central and Eastern Europe
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Today, Europe is facing an energy, climate, and social crisis. It is now more urgent than ever to showcase how energy, climate and social policy objectives can be combined. Current policies have proved to be inadequate to deliver a just energy transition. A more ambitious policy framework considering social fairness is needed. Habitat for Humanity International dedicates its second volume of articles by the HFHI Residential Energy Efficiency (REE) Observatory in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to energy sufficiency, which aims to combine energy, climate and social policy objectives through delivering energy services equitably while respecting planetary boundaries.
Articles include topics:
- Energy sufficiency in policy and practice
- Social justice and more ambitious energy performance requirements in the post-socialist context
- The face of energy poverty today
- Community engagement in the energy efficiency of multi-apartment buildings
- Housing renovation wave in Hungary
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Energy poverty as a concept has a long tradition, and energy subsidies for low-income households have been a major part of social policy in West and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as well as former Soviet Republics (CIS). Due to different political and economic circumstances, such as the higher homeownership rate in multi-family apartment buildings and the worse performing building stock, energy poverty rates in Eastern Europe and the CIS are much higher than in Western Europe.
In this report we have taken a deep dive into five countries – Hungary, Lithuania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Ukraine – to look at their energy poverty rates, how the energy-poor are identified, and what programmes are in place to support them.
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Habitat for Humanity International works on projects on alleviating energy poverty in the CEE and CIS region. Our projects aim to make impactful energy-efficient improvements in multi-family apartment buildings in the aforementioned regions affordable and manageable for energy-poor communities as well as to create the necessary assistance conditions for lifting them out of energy poverty.
View Energy Efficiency resources
Global Housing
Policy papers
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Making no distinction between developed and developing countries, the COVID 19 pandemic has hit the world hard. Pre-existing and systemic inequalities have been exacerbated by the pandemic, and disparities in health care, access to resources, and concerning stability, have been made clear.
Developing countries, and in particular their most vulnerable populations, are likely to be affected most negatively. This Discussion Brief focuses on these countries and makes the case for the crucial role of housing - in all its manifestations - in the post pandemic recovery efforts.
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This brief discusses tenure security and makes a distinction between tenure, security of tenure, property rights and title. This is important to the extent that it enables an exploration of a range of tenure typologies, recognises the importance of tenure security, and explores the nuances in the term “property rights”.
This brief demonstrates that tenure can be placed across a spectrum that is fluid, and that tenure types are varied and emerge in complex environments This is important to recognise because in a developmental context these terms take on a particular significance and challenge prevailing approaches, thereby opening avenues for exploring how to address tenure in particular contexts. Different strategies, approaches and measures can then be explored for creating an enabling environment for ensuring enhanced tenure security that is applicable in a particular context.
SDG resources
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This guide is intended to serve as a useful resource for better understanding the transformational impact of housing on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It can be a tool for housing practitioners and sustainable development experts alike, helping them fill in their r espective knowledge gaps. It is also a starting point for action, research and analysis for measuring housing impact through the SDGs’ monitoring framework of targets and indicators.
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This report gives an overview of the global effort toward achieving SDG 11, which seeks to “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable,” focusing on Target 11.1 — “By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums” — and the Indicator 11.1.1: “Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing.”
This report relies on desk research and a review of literature from online sources and reports by U.N. agencies, multilateral bodies and civil society, including UN-HABITAT, Cities Alliance, U.N. Environment Programme, U.N. Development Programme, World Bank, Voluntary National Reviews and Voluntary Local Reviews, mainly from 2018 to 2020. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for Target 11.1 are not considered in the analyses of this report.
Advocacy webinar series
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Habitat for Humanity International organized a series of 3 online webinars as part of Build Solid Ground Project funded by the EU (March 18, 2021).
Third and final online discussion focused on the implementation of SDGs relevant to the housing and urban renewal sector in Africa, and respective bottlenecks and opportunities brought in by the Decade of Action. According to the speakers SDG target 11.1 is one of only five targets regressing out of the 169 SDG targets, even though it is interlinked with all SDGs. The COVID-19 pandemic aggravated pre-existing inequalities, but we can now turn a crisis into an opportunity by recognizing the value system of housing. By recognizing the complexity of the housing ecosystem and adapting integrated approaches, we can ensure that the Decade of Action can effectively deliver on the SDGs.
Shelter reports
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Affordably priced homes are constantly lost in the United States. This can happen because of a sudden catastrophe like the Great Recession of 2007-09, which plunged millions of homes into foreclosure. More often it happens because of relentless appreciation in the value of local land and housing, pushing rents and prices beyond the reach of people of modest means.
