Side Event: Alternative models for affordable housing
The event invited experts coming from different European housing contexts to dwell on the challenges and results arising from these two models which promote innovative affordable housing solutions, intersectoral models involving public, private and civil society actors, the use of private-owned resources for public purposes, involvement of the private sector in innovative housing solutions, and including financing perspectives.
The event hoped to bring as an added value the best practices and lessons learned from the implementation of these two innovative models in the contexts of CEE and UK, thus presenting potential solutions to housing systems challenges that could be replicated and incorporated in local and national housing policies.
Background
Globally, countries face a housing crisis with the increasing lack of social rental stock. For historic and social reasons, in many European regions there aren’t well-functioning housing systems. Thus, there is the need to create and invest in alternative models, also as in order to meet the 2023 Agenda and SDG 11.1,
With focus on Central and Eastern Europe and the United Kingdom, the event presented successful strategies in creating affordable housing alternatives. Habitat for Humanity, having the unique added-value of running programs in CEE region and the UK, has identified and piloted alternatives that emerge as opportunities for scaling up:
- Social Rental Agencies: a model well-embedded in Western European housing markets, e.g. in Great Britain, while it still develops in CEE region. In Poland legal regulation on SRAs was implemented in 2021 allowing development of the model.
- Empty Spaces to Homes approach (repurposing of underutilized commercial and business spaces): provide opportunity for energy-efficient, sustainable rehabilitation into affordable housing stock. In Poland almost 12% of apartments remains empty, inspiring debate on how to renovate and/or re-use this stock. Whereas in the UK, an estimated 165k privately-owned commercial and business premises remain empty across Great Britain.
The event proposed a dive into innovative solutions to deliver adequate and affordable housing, taking into consideration housing systems that deal with financial challenges, especially in the face of the emerging energy and environmental crises. By inviting housing experts, the event also tackled some financing options for the use of these models.
