The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group have announced they are partnering with Europe’s national promotional banks (NPBs) and international financial institutions (IFIs) to develop new financing opportunities for affordable and sustainable housing across Europe.

At the EIB Group Forum in Luxembourg on Thursday 6 March 2025, EIB Group President Nadia Calviño and European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen underlined the importance of tackling one of the most pressing concerns of citizens and governments in the European Union. They advocated a pan-European push that brings together local and national, public and private actors to catalyse finance and urgent action under the Commission’s upcoming European Affordable Housing Plan.

Their call comes as the EIB Group completes work on an Action Plan for Affordable and Sustainable Housing with planned investments of around €10 billion over the next two years. The EIB plan is expected to support local and national efforts to build more affordable homes, renovate existing housing stock to be more energy efficient and encourage more sustainable and innovative building materials and equipment. The EIB also launched a housing portal, a one-stop shop to support final beneficiaries to access advice and finance. The EIB Group’s investment aims to deliver 1.5 million new or renovated housing units across Europe. The EIB Action Plan and the portal are considered key building blocks for the pan-European investment platform, which will be open to other players such as NPBs and IFIs. The Council of European Development Bank has also signalled its interest in participating.

Speaking at a special event on housing at the EIB Group’s annual Forum titled "Investing in a more Sustainable and Secure Europe", Nadia Calviño said: "Being able to afford a comfortable and warm home is a wish that unites every family and every community in Europe. Helping to make that possible for our citizens is a social responsibility and a fiscal challenge. It is also the foundation of any productive economy. That’s why we at the EIB Group and the European Commission are working full speed on a pan-European initiative that will be open for others to join." 

In his opening remarks at the EIB Group Forum, European Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said: "Ensuring more affordable and sustainable housing is a pressing issue. The Commission will enable Member States to increase cohesion funds for affordable housing and ensure our state-aid rules better support our goal of achieving more affordable housing. The EU is already mobilising substantial funding, for example via the Recovery and Resilience Facility But we will not stop there. Today we are kicking off the work with the EIB, national promotional banks and international financial institutions towards a pan-European investment platform to attract more public and private funding for housing. And, together with the European Parliament, we will consult intensively with Member States, cities, regions and all stakeholders to deliver the European Affordable Housing Plan."

The European Commission and the EIB noted that the lack of affordable housing in Europe, particularly in larger cities, was highlighted as an increasing concern in relation to Europe's economic growth and productivity in the EIB Group's investment survey based on feedback from around 13,000 European small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The report, presented last week at the EIB Group Forum, also noted low productivity and insufficient innovation in the European construction sector, adding to the cost and time of delivering housing projects. The cost of energy and the impact of carbon-dioxide emissions were also a concern. Two-thirds of household energy consumption are used for heating homes and, with 46 million Europeans living in energy poverty, the energy efficiency of Europe’s housing stock is described as a key focus.

Working closely with the Commission and its new Task Force for Housing in the context of the European Affordable Housing Plan, as well as Member States, regions, cities and NPBs and IFIs, the EIB Group said it aims to raise the supply of affordable and sustainable housing in the EU. The approach rests on four pillars, which provide the general framework for the measures described further below:

  • Partnerships with the European Commission and NPBIs/IFIs for easier access to finance and advice, based on complementarity with existing structures and products;
  • EU-wide rollout: widening the regional scope of EIB Group support with an emphasis on EU countries with less mature housing systems and large unmet needs, where an enhanced advisory component will complement financing;
  • Value-chain approach: opening up to new types of housing projects - from innovation in construction to real-estate development to ownership, with policy safeguards;
  • Mobilisation of private sector: expansion of the client base to include private, for-profit promoters.

In July 2024, the EIB Group's newly established Housing Task Force organised a kick-off event featuring about 300 public and private stakeholders to discuss scaling up financial support for affordable and sustainable housing throughout the EU. The event was followed by technical meetings in the autumn with stakeholders to help shape a pan-European investment platform alongside the Commission.

The European Commission recalled it is already active on housing, with support through the Recovery and Resilience Facility, Cohesion Policy Funds, InvestEU, LIFE and Horizon Europe, among others.

As outlined in the mission letter of Commissioner Jørgensen, the Commission will publish its first-ever European Affordable Housing Plan. The plan will offer technical assistance to cities and Member States and focus on investment and skills needed. The Commission will in particular: develop a European Strategy for Housing Construction to support housing supply; establish a pan-European investment platform for affordable and sustainable housing; conduct an analysis of the impact of housing speculation; support Member States to double the planned cohesion policy investments in affordable housing; tackle systemic issues with short-term accommodation rentals; make proposals to tackle the inefficient use of the current housing stock; revise state-aid rules to enable housing support measures, notably for energy efficiency and social housing.

Luxembourg hosted the third edition of the EIB Group Forum from Wednesday 5 to Friday 7 March 2025.