Promoting inclusive and resilient living environments

In 2023, the CEB issued six loans in five countries totalling just under €375 million dedicated to social and affordable housing. Moreover, 13 new loans in eight countries, with a portfolio amounting to €867 million, targeted urban, rural and regional development. These initiatives were complemented by four loans in as many countries totalling €164 million in favour of environmental protection. Examples of the CEB’s loans for wastewater networks in Cyprus and affordable, energy-efficient, housing in Germany are detailed below.

Building resilient wastewater networks in Cyprus

Cyprus has a semi-arid climate with limited water resources due to poor rainfall and vulnerability to droughts. As such, it has one of the highest water stress levels in the world – a situation that is expected to deteriorate further due to climate change. Wastewater treatment and reuse are essential for sparing scarce water resources on the island, and bring diverse social and environmental benefits. While the main city centres are adequately covered by urban wastewater treatment systems, wide gaps remain, particularly towards the outskirts of urban areas. Moreover, the country is working to comply with the EU’s Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, as Larnaca, its third largest city, illustrates.

The CEB’s €48 million loan to the Larnaca Sewerage and Drainage Board will help connect under-served suburban areas to the integrated urban wastewater network, addressing territorial inequalities, enhancing quality of life for the city’s inhabitants, and strengthening social cohesion. Moreover, appropriate wastewater treatment, storage and reuse for irrigation will contribute to the sustainable management of scarce water resources and improve environmental protection, a necessary condition for safeguarding socio-economic development in the long run. At its completion, the project is expected to meet the needs of about 32 000 residents, complementing investments undertaken with the CEB’s support since the 1990s.

Towards affordable housing in Germany

Strong population growth in Berlin during the past decade and a constrained housing supply have led to record rent increases in the city, making housing unaffordable for those on a lower income and other vulnerable segments of the population.

The CEB’s €100 million loan will help support the service expansion of the largest municipally-owned housing company in Berlin, HOWOGE Wohnungsbaugesellschaft mbHmbH, to provide an additional 1 394 modern social and affordable housing units as part of its Neubauoffensive, or new construction initiative. Through targeted design, careful allocation of residential units, rental caps and advisory support to tenants, the project targets the city’s most vulnerable residents, including people from Ukraine who have been displaced by the war. HOWOGE’s approach recognises the importance of the social-climate nexus by adopting highly energy-efficient building standards, which will reduce costs for tenants as well as CO2 emissions from buildings.