Launch of a French National Hub for Social, Intermediate and Sustainable Housing

A strategic cooperation between the French State, Caisse des Dépôts, the Union sociale pour l’Habitat (USH), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), supported by the European Commission, to accelerate housing delivery in the social housing and accommodation sectors, as well as intermediate housing.

Bordeaux, 23 September 2026 – On the occasion of the annual French HLM Congress, the Ministry for the City and Housing (the French State), Caisse des Dépôts (CDC), the Union sociale pour l’Habitat (USH), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) today signed a declaration of intent to establish a French National Hub dedicated to social, intermediate and sustainable housing (“the Hub”).

Supported by the European Commission, this initiative forms part of the European Affordable Housing Plan presented in December 2025 and marks a major step forward in addressing the housing crisis, characterised by rising prices and rents, a slowdown in new construction and growing difficulties for many households in accessing housing.

A national Hub to bring together expertise and mobilise European resources and funding

The Hub, resulting from cooperation between the five signatories, will serve as a new platform of cooperation with the following objectives:

• Highlight and facilitate access to European resources and funding (loans, guarantees, engineering credits) that can be mobilised for social housing and accommodation projects, which are the Hub's priority, as well as for affordable housing;
• Facilitate technical support to project developers;
• Share, on an indicative basis, projected volumes and investment needs in social and intermediate housing and accommodation;
• Share the expertise of Hub stakeholders and exchange in a dialogue to identify barriers to social and intermediate housing and accommodation projects.

Cooperation building on the experience of the 2020 European Alliance for Sustainable and Inclusive Social Housing in France

This initiative builds on the successful experience of the " European Alliance for Sustainable and Inclusive Social Housing in France", launched in 2020 by USH, CDC, EIB and CEB. This Alliance has already helped mobilise European resources for social housing and specialised accommodation through the Banque des Territoires (Caisse des Dépôts Group).

A strong commitment to concrete action: the three pillars of cooperation of the Hub

1.Enhancing and facilitating access to European funding for social and affordable housing and measures to combat homelessness

The Hub will focus on promoting and facilitating access to European resources and funding to support investments in social housing and temporary accommodation projects, as well as affordable housing projects. This approach will build on the successful experience of the 2020 European Alliance, which emphasised the pivotal role of CDC through the Banque des Territoires in mobilising EIB and CEB resources for investment in social housing in France.

Hub stakeholders will work to make European financial tools more visible and accessible to project developers and local actors. Bilateral agreements may be established between CDC and European financial institutions, while respecting each partner's internal procedures.

1. Technical support for project promoters

The Hub will serve as a cooperation and exchange platform to facilitate technical support for project promoters. The parties will collaborate to improve access to national and European resources for project engineering financing and to promote innovative construction and renovation methods.

This cooperation will also enable the sharing of best practices in project structuring, financing and implementation. Lessons learned from these exchanges may be disseminated for the benefit of public actors and project developers.

3.Sharing expertise and identifying levers for action

The third pillar of the Hub will consist of sharing expertise among the parties in order to assess investment needs in social housing, accommodation and intermediate housing. This assessment will take into account national and European priorities, as well as those of the Council of Europe.

The Hub will also help to showcase existing initiatives, such as economic analysis studies and cost observatories, while identifying financial and operational levers to encourage innovative construction and renovation methods tailored to the sector's needs.

Finally, the parties will exchange views on the barriers identified in delivering housing projects, with a view to informing the French State and supporting proposals for legislative or regulatory changes.

Dan Jørgensen, European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, said:

“Just months after the launch of Europe's first plan for affordable housing, I am delighted that France has responded to our call by creating the first national Hub dedicated to social, affordable and sustainable housing. This platform brings together key French and European housing stakeholders and grounds our European investment mobilization efforts in local realities. I strongly encourage other countries to follow this initiative's example.”

Vincent Jeanbrun, French Minister for Urban Affairs and Housing, stated:
“Faced with the housing crisis affecting all of Europe, we must build more, faster and more efficiently. France fully supports the European Commission's Affordable Housing Plan, and it is in this spirit that we are launching the French Hub for social, affordable and sustainable housing. It will contribute to the momentum we wish to create in favour of housing production as part of the 'Housing Recovery' plan (Relance logement), and to support the energy renovation of social housing and accommodation facilities."

Olivier Sichel, Director General of CDC, said:
“Five years ago, we launched, together with the EIB, CEB and USH, a European Alliance for Sustainable and Inclusive Social Housing in France. Today, we are taking a further step by building on this successful cooperation and integrating the State into the initiative. At a time where social and affordable housing and accommodation facilities are more than ever a priority for the Caisse des Dépôts Group and the Banque des Territoires, as well as for France and Europe, we are now strengthening our cooperation by launching this Hub and aligning it with the Commission's European Affordable Housing Plan.”

Emmanuelle Cosse, President of l’USH, declared:
“Given the scale of the housing crisis, we must mobilise all available levers to produce more social housing and meet households' needs. The creation of this French Hub is an important step forward. By bringing together the State, Caisse des Dépôts, the EIB, CEB and USH, it will help better direct and mobilise European funding. For the HLM housing movement in France, this is a strong signal: one of collective mobilisation to facilitate the emergence of projects, strengthen the investment capacity of social housing organisations and support local authorities in delivering housing.“

Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the EIB, said:

“To address the shortage of affordable housing, we need to scale up our efforts. By bringing together national and European expertise and facilitating access to European financing and advisory, this new hub will help accelerate investment in affordable and sustainable housing projects. The EIB is committed to this initiative alongside the European Commission and as part of its Housing Action Plan. Over the past five years, France has been the leading beneficiary in Europe of European Investment Bank financing for the housing sector, receiving €3.4 billion. We remain fully committed to working with our partners to deliver more affordable, sustainable, and high-quality housing throughout France.”

Johannes Boehmer, Vice-Governor of the CEB, explained:

"Housing has been at the core of CEB's mission since its inception. This Hub will better connect the needs of French territories with available funding and expertise at both national and European levels. With nearly one billion euros in approved financing in France since 2015 alongside the Caisse des Dépôts Group for social and affordable housing, we are proud to contribute to this strategic cooperation initiative that will help sector stakeholders develop more sustainable and accessible solutions for those who need them most."