The European Alliance for Sustainable and Inclusive Social Housing launches a first wave of €650 million long-term financing

The Social Union for Housing, the Banque des Territoires, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) have established a partnership aimed at facilitating the access of social housing organisations to European funding for their long-term investments in social infrastructure of general interest.  

Within the framework of the implementation of this alliance, a first wave of €650 million euros of EIB and CEB funding is made available to social housing organisations by the Banque des Territoires, in addition to its regulated loans:

• The €500 million EIB loan aims to accelerate the construction of social housing in a deteriorated economic context, by enabling the Banque des Territoires to expand its offer of fixed-rate "Booster" loans with maturities of 35 and 40 years;  
• The CEB loan of €150 million, a renewal of an existing contract bringing its total commitment to €300 million, aims to strengthen the offer of complementary loans from the Banque des Territoires for adapted housing, particularly for people in precarious situations, supported housing and medico-social establishments.  

This European alliance was sealed during the day "Les Hlm, acteurs de la relance", organised on 15 September at the Grande Arche in Paris by the Union sociale pour l'habitat (Social Union for Housing). It is part of the implementation of the Investment Pact signed on 25 April 2019 by all social housing stakeholders and the government.  

This alliance affirms the role of the Banque des Territoires in mobilising European resources from the CEB and the EIB for the benefit of investment in social housing in France, on the basis of bilateral financing agreements concluded between these different long-term financiers.

The aim of this intermediation mechanism is to ensure that French social housing operators have simple, fair and coherent access to European funding, open to all social infrastructure investment projects, regardless of their size and territorial location.  

The agreement on the operational implementation of this European alliance also provides for an adapted communication campaign aimed at informing beneficiary households and local stakeholders of the commitment of the European Union and the Council of Europe to sustainable and inclusive social housing in their territory.  

The complementarity of EIB and CEB financing will fully contribute to the fight against climate change and to the social inclusion of fragile populations in application of the revised European Social Charter of the Council of Europe and the EU's European Pillar of Social Rights.  

The implementation of this European Pillar and its Principle 19 "access to social housing", as well as the wave of thermal renovation of the Green Deal buildings and its "affordable housing initiative" to renovate 100 social housing districts in the European Union, represent two major initiatives for social housing launched by the von der Leyen Commission in its 2021 work programme.  

Christos Giakoumopoulos, Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law of the Council of Europe said: "The European Alliance for Sustainable and Inclusive Social Housing is an excellent example of how the Council of Europe Development Bank, by joining forces with other actors, is pursuing the objective of social progress provided for in the Statute of the Council of Europe and the objectives of international human rights law. »

"This European alliance for sustainable and inclusive social housing, which we have brought together in the framework of the investment pact, should help us to face this new challenge of post-Covid affordable housing, in France and in Europe," said Emmanuelle Cosse, President of the Union Sociale pour l'Habitat. "The European Union and the Council of Europe are now at our side to accomplish our missions of general interest, which are undergoing major changes, and to facilitate the access of social housing organisations to European resources and long-term funding. »

Marianne Laurent, Director of Loans at the Banque des Territoires, "The Banque des Territoires, the reference lender for social housing in France, has been working for several years with the European Investment Bank and the Council of Europe Development Bank. This partnership demonstrates its desire to offer, in addition to its own resources, simple, open and equitable access to European funding in order to meet the ambitious objectives of the sector to boost construction and energy renovation activity".  

"The EIB, the Climate Bank of the European Union, has for several years supported the Banque des Territoires in its mission of financing social housing operators, particularly for thermal renovation", said Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the EIB. "This partnership demonstrates the determination of our four institutions to combine their skills to maximise the impact of their work on the provision of affordable and sustainable housing." 

"This Alliance underlines the complementarity of our four institutions and their willingness to sustainably support a coherent housing offer, especially for the most vulnerable populations" said Tomáš Boček, Vice-Governor of the CEB. "For 65 years, the CEB - the Social Development Bank for Europe - has been using its expertise to strengthen social cohesion, together with its many partners, in particular the Caisse des Dépôts Group and the Banque des Territoires."