Laurent Ghekiere is Director of European Affairs at the Union sociale pour l’habitat in France. Positively surprised by the announcements of the re-elected President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, he deciphers the way in which she has taken up the issue and sets out the various possible measures for a housing policy at European level. (Interview by Mathieu Bion)
Agence Europe - Where do Ms von der Leyen’s announcements in favour of a housing policy at European level come from?
Laurent Ghekiere - As part of the European elections, our “Manifest for Affordable and Sustainable Housing for all European Citizens” (https://aeur.eu/f/d9t ) was taken up in France by the Socialist Party. This was then reflected in Brussels, where [Party of European Socialists candidate] Nicolas Schmit ‘put the hammer down’ on housing in his campaign for the presidency of the Commission.
In the end, they came to an agreement: the PES made its support for Ms von der Leyen conditional on the need to take ownership of the housing aspect of her political programme, with the idea of a European Commissioner responsible for housing.
This is why Ms von der Leyen’s speech to the European Parliament is so precise (see EUROPE 13456/1). It includes everything we set out in our manifesto: a European investment plan with the EIB, a review of the rules governing State aid, the Social Climate Fund...
Were you surprised by such precision?
Yes. It is a first in the history of the European Union to have such ambitious and precise proposals from a President of the European Commission at the time of their reappointment for a new mandate and in front of the Parliament.
Ms von der Leyen’s reference to a Europe-wide housing crisis is also new. Of course, Mr Schmit spoke about this regularly [in his work as European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs] and the meeting of European housing ministers in Liège was also important for raising awareness (see EUROPE 13365/19). And let’s not forget the Housing For All initiative, launched by the mayor of Lyon and his counterparts in other major European cities, which has had an impact on the European Parliament.
How is the housing crisis playing out in the EU?
Germany has been particularly hard hit, with major tenant demonstrations. In Sweden, the crisis is linked to the accommodation of immigrants and refugees. There are, of course, the countries of the South. Spain has been hit by tourism and short-term rentals, particularly Airbnb...
Everywhere, the housing crisis is linked to higher interest rates, increasingly difficult purchasing power and a lack of affordable housing for young people and low-income families. This crisis is not unique to Europe. It can be found in the United States and in major African capitals.
The idea is not that Europe should become responsible for housing, as this is a matter of subsidiarity. It is up to the Member States to implement their policies, usually at regional and local level.
On the other hand, as the housing issue has an impact on major European priorities such as climate, cohesion and social rights, Europe must help Member States to resolve the housing crisis by enabling them to invest in affordable housing, in social housing.
Where should you start?
The most immediate impact is a large-scale investment plan.
We tested it in France. We have set up an alliance between Caisse des Dépôts, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) to put all these funds into a single tube for our public social housing bodies (HLM). It took a long time, but it worked. Today, global loans are negotiated between these players and transformed into intermediated loans for the HLM bodies available in the regions. Loans totalling over €2 billion have been granted to finance the renovation of social housing in France. These are very long-term, 40-year fixed-rate loans. This long-term visibility is of great interest to organisations.
So, for me, the most immediate dimension is to disseminate this system, which has been tested in France, to create a European system for all countries. Spain is already interested. Ireland is starting to do this with the Housing Finance Agency. The Netherlands are beginning to show an interest.
Mr von der Leyen also mentions the mobilisation of European structural funds...
Thermal renovation of social housing is already eligible for ERDF funding, but it is capped in terms of amount compared with other expenditure. The idea is to double this system for those countries that wish to do so.
Once again, there are countries that do not wish to put ERDF funding into low-cost housing and consider that they have other priorities. Even in France, there are huge variations between regions: some are focusing on thermal renovation, while others are doing very little.
In France, we have tried to combine the ERDF funds, meaning €350 million, with this loan from the EIB and the CEB via Caisse des Dépôts, to the tune of 2.5 billion. These large sums may lead Member States to change their policies slightly.
But today, it’s still very complicated to put together an ERDF application and show that this application is not overcompensated in terms of public service compensation under the State aid regime. This administrative problem of managing files comes up every time we talk to our members.
What we would like is for there to be a single pot, so to speak, a single pipeline to enable operators to use them much more easily and much more quickly. I know it’s complicated to harmonise, but it's very necessary.
Should we set concrete numerical targets for the construction of affordable housing at European level?
The construction and renovation of existing buildings, the development of social housing rather than private housing or intermediate housing between social and private... All these issues must remain within the competence of the Member States. Otherwise, it will be an element of conflict over subsidiarity.
Europe needs to help Member States get moving. After that, political choices remain the prerogative of the governments in power. In Germany, Italy and Spain, the regions are responsible for implementing housing policy.
But countries that want to tackle the housing crisis must have much simpler access to European funds, as must operators.
Can the ‘Social Climate Fund’ also make a contribution?
Completely. The ‘Social Climate Fund’ already has a social component, in fact, to support the most difficult categories, people on low incomes and so on. However, it can also be allocated to housing in a much broader way than at present.
Here too, we are taking an existing measure, promoting it in favour of social housing or housing and enabling Member States to make better use of it.
Are there any initiatives planned to deal with State aid?
Yes, there is a complete review of state aid schemes for social housing. This is compensation for public services.
Affordable housing is more a question of private housing for people in difficulty. For example, there was a notification of the Czech Republic’s State aid scheme for affordable housing in December 2023. And in July, the European Commission published a decision on the compatibility of this regime with services of general economic interest. This is a traditional economic activity that is allocated to all possible investors for affordable housing. This is an intermediate form of accommodation between social housing and private housing.
Then there’s the whole question of State aid for energy saving. Here, too, there is possible assistance, but it is very complicated to mobilise. They need to be simplified.
The idea is being floated of a global simplification of all the methods of State aid that are channelled into housing. Perhaps we should combine them into a single pot, making them simpler in terms of control and application preparation, in conjunction with the ERDF and the EIB.
From a governance point of view, should housing issues be independent or linked to other policies?
Ms von der Leyen talks about a Commissioner for Housing, but not necessarily just for housing. It’s easy to imagine a Commissioner responsible for employment and social affairs, as Mr Schmit is, with a new ‘housing’ window added to the mix. I think we’ll be more like that.
However, it is also conceivable to link the housing strand to cohesion policy, provided that the regions remain the driving force. This could give a boost to cohesion policy, which is an internal demand within the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (REGIO).