News
Social housing: ensuring the success of the European recovery plan in France
15 September 2020
New European alliance for sustainable and inclusive social housing
PARIS - Union sociale pour l’habitat, Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, acting via its Banque des Territoires unit, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) have decided to form a partnership designed to foster access to European financing by social housing bodies in France for long-term investments in social housing.
This partnership forms part of the process of implementation of the Investment Pact that was signed on 25 April 2019 in Paris by all of the French players in the field of social housing.
The partnership, in the form of a “European alliance for sustainable and inclusive social housing in France”, further consolidates the role of Banque des Territoires in mobilising the resources of the CEB and of the EIB for investment in social housing in France, based on bilateral agreements signed by these financial institutions.
The intermediation mechanism set up around Banque des Territoires is designed to ensure that French social housing operators have straightforward, equitable and coherent access to European financing, and that this financing is available for all investment projects, whatever their size and their location in the country.
The loans provided by the EIB and the CEB will be used as a priority to fund measures for combating climate change, to promote social inclusion and to back economically or socially vulnerable populations in accordance with the European Pillar of Social Rights of the European Union and the revised European Social Charter of the Council of Europe.
This partnership forms part of the implementation of the Recovery Plan for Europe and fits in with the energy efficiency renovations of buildings initiated under the Green Deal of the European Commission.
This alliance also aims to increase awareness of the joint actions undertaken by the EIB and the CEB via the intermediation of Banque des Territoires to support social housing in France, especially among beneficiary households and local players, by way of suitably adapted communication.
#SocialHousingAlliance
Set up in 1956, the CEB (Council of Europe Development Bank) has 42 member states. Twenty-two Central, Eastern and South Eastern European countries, forming the Bank's target countries, are listed among the member states. As a major instrument of the policy of solidarity in Europe, the Bank finances social projects by making available resources raised in conditions reflecting the quality of its rating (AA+ with Fitch Ratings, outlook stable, AAA with Standard & Poor's, outlook stable and Aa1 with Moody's, outlook stable). It thus grants loans to its member states, and to financial institutions and local authorities in its member states for the financing of projects in the social sector, in accordance with its Articles of Agreement.