Financing social and affordable housing in Europe: the CEB's approach (May 2015)

• Financing social and affordable housing in Europe: the CEB's approach

• By Lucia Athenosy (Senior Economist) and Viorica Revenco (Economist), Corporate Responsibility & Studies Department under the supervision of Jérôme Halb (Director of Corporate Responsibility & Studies Department, Deputy Director for European Cooperation & Strategy), in May 2015

• https://coebank.org/media/documents/ECS_Working_Paper_Housing.pdf

• Abstract:

  • The paper analyses the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB)'s role in housing financing. It also assesses recent trends in housing needs and considers how these will shape the demand for social and affordable housing and its financing.

  • Part I describes the CEB’s approach to housing and its experience in financing social housing, with a focus on the past fifteen years of activity. The project portfolio is illustrated by case studies. This part focuses on the sums allocated and the geographic areas where the investment in the housing sector happened.

  • Part II analyses the scale and scope of the new demand for social and affordable housing and the emerging housing financing schemes and actors. It identifies new population groups affected by housing unaffordability and outlines innovations in public finance. This part also takes into account demographic trends such as the ageing of the population, emigration etc.

• Keywords: The Council of Europe Development Bank, CEB, social housing, public housing, Central Europe, Southeastern Europe, Eastern Europe.