Making a house a home

We continue looking at a bold new approach to sustainable living—neighbourhoods that don’t just cut energy use but actually generate more than they consume.With the EU ramping up its housing and climate commitments, Sustainable Plus Energy Neighbourhoods (SPENs) are proving that entire districts can be energy-positive while remaining affordable and inclusive. One initiative leading the way is syn.ikia, an EU-funded project demonstrating how social housing providers across Europe an deliver these climate-friendly communities. But what will it take to movefrom pilots to widespread adoption?To help us answer that, we’re joined by Ciarán Cuffe,recently elected Co-President of the European Greens and a key architect of the recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). We’ll discuss why theneighbourhood approach is essential for decarbonising Europe’s building stock, the biggest political and practical barriers to scaling up SPENs, and how the social housing sector can play a leading role in this transition.And with major developments at the EU level—including the first-ever Commissioner for Housing, a European Commission task force working across policies, and growing momentum for a pan-European investment platform—couldthis be the breakthrough moment for energy-positive neighbourhoods? Stay with us to find out.The syn.ikia project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 869918.

It has now been three years since Housing Europe embarked on a special journey – to increase circularity in social and affordable homes, by bringing renovation techniques, recycling, and upcycling to a new level while preserving affordability and fairness. While we have seen multiple public, cooperative, and social housing providers implement circular models, we are now referring to Housing Europe’s partnership in the EU Horizon 2020 funded HOUSEFUL project, which has at its core the aim to increase the use of circular building and renovation techniques. My name is Diana Yordanova and you are with another episode of ‘Making a house a home’, the podcast show of Housing Europe where we bring the vision of more than 43,000 public, cooperative, and social housing providers whose main goal is to ensure that people relying on modest incomes can also live in decent, affordable homes. One way of doing that is, of course, circularity and making the best out of buildings’ waste. Together with various partners within the EU-funded Houseful project, we are doing this by testing and developing new circular housing solutions in four demo sites in Spain and Austria. This includes social housing buildings of Neues Leben from Vienna and Agencia de L'Habitatge de Catalunya based in Barcelona. With the help of Housing Europe’s research coordinator, Dara Turnbull we are going to hear from representatives from two of those demo sites - the Cambium Community, a new eco-village concept, and Neues Leben, a limited-profit housing association. In the next few minutes, they are explaining a little bit about the circular solutions that are being tested, and also why these new approaches can help to provide cheaper and more sustainable homes to social housing tenants. If you are curious to know more about Houseful, you can check out the website www.houseful.eu. You can also contact us directly at Housing Europe at communications@housingeurope.eu Enjoy.

Money makes the world go around and central banks supposedly keep it flowing. However, should they also ensure it flows in the right direction? Central banks aim at promoting financial stability and could promote sustainable development that includes investment in affordable, inclusive, decarbonised housing. They could also create the perfect storm and promote borrowing, indebtedness, offering cheap money to big investors, creating real estate inflation, unaffordability, and as recent history remembers create housing booms and busts. You are with ‘Making a house a home’, I am your host, Diana Yordanova and this is the second podcast episode of #Housing2030 – the initiative led by the European Federation of public, cooperative, and social housing providers, UNECE, and UN-Habitat. This new season is kindly supported by the Irish Research Council and the Irish Council of Social Housing. We continue to dismantle financialisation and to search for tools that could tame it together with the lead writer of the #Housing2030 report, Dr Julie Lawson from RMIT University, and Professor Michelle Norris from University College Dublin who also wrote the chapter on better, sustainable finance that results in more affordable housing. To discuss the role of central banks, we have met with seasoned experts, advocates, decision-makers literally from all around the world – Brussels, London, Strasbourg, Groningen, Auckland, Ottawa, and Hong Kong.  Professor Laurence Murphy, Human Geography at the University of Auckland, New Zealand Professor Dirk Bezemer, Finance, monetary economics, growth and development at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands Alicia Garcia Herrero, Chief economist for Asia Pacific and Bruegel Institute, formerly European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund Dr Josh Ryan-Collins, a Senior Research Fellow in Economics and Finance at the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose in London Stefan Zeugner, macroeconomist expert, Directorate‑General of the European Commission for Economic and Financial Affairs Kim van Sparrentak, Member of the European Parliament, the Greens (Netherlands) Leilani Farha, Founder of 'The Shift' and former UN Rapporteur on the Right to Housing Enjoy! As usual, we invite you to keep in touch with us at communications@housingeurope.eu or via the #Housing2030 hashtag. Make sure to come back to our channel in a few weeks from now when we will take a deep dive into the world of mortgage market regulation and how we can make it better.

[FR] Le logement social est souvent considéré comme un laboratoire d'innovation sociale et environnementale. Ce podcast qui nous amènera à quelques kilomètres des bureaux de Housing Europe le prouvera. Alors restez avec nous, car nous allons dans le sud de la Belgique, la région wallonne.  Notre membre, la Société wallonne du Logement (SWL) nous guidera à travers leurs défis comme par exemple rénover les logements tout en les gardant abordables, opter pour des solutions à plus faible impact environnemental dont l'emploi de matériaux biosourcés. SWL fait également une brève rétrospective des 8 dernières années depuis le lancement du projet Housing First dans le pays - ce qui a été réalisé et ce qu’ils devraient encore viser. Plus important, cet épisode est une invitation officielle à un échange d'idées et d'expériences. Ce podcast est le tout premier épisode de 'Making a house a home' en français et dans celui-ci, on a le plaisir de discuter avec le porte-parole de SWL, Daniel Pollain.  [EN] Social housing is often considered to be a laboratory where social and environmental innovation is taking place. This podcast which will bring us just a few kilometres from Housing Europe's headquarters will prove this. Stay with us, we are bringing you to the south of Belgium or the Walloon region where our member, Societe Wallonne du Logement (SWL) walks us through the major challenges they are experiencing locally in their mission to renovate homes while keeping them affordable, their journey towards circularity and more sustainable materials. SWL also makes a short retrospection of the past 8 years since the Housing First project had kicked off in the country - what has been achieved and what should we be aiming at. Most importantly, this episode is an official invite for an exchange of ideas and experiences.  You are with the very first episode of 'Making a house a home'  in French and in it, we have the pleasure to be talking to the spokesperson of SWL, Daniel Pollain.  How does the fair energy transition translate into your work? How are you and your tenants going through the economic and social recovery? What are the emerging housing needs in your country? Housing Europe would be glad to tour around the continent and hear the latest updates from public, cooperative and social housing providers. If you would like to share with us your story, drop us a message at communications@housingeurope.eu 

Try discussing housing affordability without mentioning the financialisation of real estate property. This key concept has affected the general housing conditions in many countries - big funds buying tens of thousands of homes, expanding mortgage market that drives up prices, constantly increasing rents, gentrification and pricing people out. The financialisation of housing can easily sound complex, so we have invited someone who can explain it even to a grandma. You are with ‘Making a house a home’ - the podcast of the European federation of public, cooperative and social housing providers, Housing Europe. This is the 11th podcast of Housing 2030, the joint initiative of UNECE, UN-Habitat and Housing Europe that aims at bringing the best out of land and environmental policy, governance and finance to deliver housing affordability. I am Diana Yordanova and in this episode, we will look at the virtue of adequate funding and finance or more specifically, how governments can get to grips with the financialisation of homes. The guest of the show today is Professor Manuel Aalbers who is a human geographer, sociologist and urban planner teaching at the prestigious KU Leuven University in Belgium. His main research interest is in the intersection of housing and finance which as you will hear, has turned into one of the biggest challenges of our time that we need to solve if we want our communities to thrive. Manuel Aalbers will join the main panel of the upcoming Housing 2030 conference ‘Shaping investment pathways to deliver affordable housing’ which will take place online on 14th April. Last registrations are open at www.housingeurope.eu and www.housing2030.org. We are also curious to hear your thoughts, so feel free to reach out to us on communications@housingeurope.eu or via the #Housing2030 hashtag.

When speaking about social inclusion and housing, one European country can be seen as a total myth buster. Yes, it is Finland. Once travel is safe and possible again, we dare you to have a stroll in its capital, Helsinki and try to tell the difference between the tenures just by looking at the buildings. It is also the right time to say that the next edition of the International Social Housing Festival in June 2022 will give you this opportunity. A European champion in tackling homelessness, Finland has been implementing sensible land policies and for half a century already, applying the social mix principle where regardless of where you live, your neighbour can be someone who rents social or private housing, or someone who owns a home. This is the ‘Making a house a home’ show, aired straight from Brussels in what we call today a home office. I am Diana Yordanova and you are listening to the 9th podcast of the Housing 2030 initiative, led by housing experts from over 56 governments through UNECE, UN-Habitat and more than 43,000 social, affordable housing providers represented by Housing Europe. This episode puts good governance and Finland’s housing solutions at the centre. The Director of the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA), Jarmo Lindén says that to achieve a good urban social mix, ‘you have to do this from the beginning’ and smiles by saying that Finnish are pragmatic.  On 24th February, Jarmo Linden will join the Q&A panel of the next Housing 2030 digital conference - “Good governance and regulation to support affordability in housing”. Registrations will remain open in the next few days at www.housingeurope.eu or www.housing2030.org. Jarmo will be joined by our two previous podcast guests – Dr Julie Lawson, the Housing 2030 lead writer and Dr Ken Gibb – the director of UK’s Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence. A great discussion is in sight, so, keep an eye on the #Housing2030 hashtag and share your thoughts on housing affordability. Tune in for our conversation with Jarmo, just a few hours before he goes skiing for the weekend.

When was the last time when you took a stroll around a neighbourhood and you found it well-maintained, with a good social mix and green spaces or just the opposite, rather run-down, leaving you a feeling that things can be improved? And a second question to kick off the discussion - when was the last time when you thought that districts, homes and people’s quality of life are the result of a strategic, systematic political action or perhaps inaction? Welcome to ‘Making a house a home’ - the podcast of Housing Europe, the European federation of public, cooperative and social housing providers. You are listening to the 7th episode of Housing 2030 - the joint international initiative of housing experts from over 56 governments through UNECE and UN-Habitat and 43,000 affordable housing providers represented by Housing Europe.  I am Diana Yordanova and I hope you will dive into the ‘new season’ of our Housing 2030 mini-series which will be looking at governance. Our podcast guest today says that “effective champions” and “best practice in leadership and commitment” can drive people’s lives forward, but also that “a housing system that is poorly regulated can be really costly.” This is Dr Julie Lawson – a Housing 2030 Lead Writer and Honorary Associate Professor at RMIT University. This is the second time Julie Lawson is on this show.  In May last year, she discussed with us why good land policy and the need to plan for the wider public interest matter. Now, we will be looking at what kind of governance can build a type of housing system that we want to have and that we need for future generations. You can get to know more about policies that work for homes and for people during the next Housing 2030 digital conference “Good governance and regulation to support affordability in housing”. The event will be held online on 24th February and you can register for it on www.housingeurope.eu or www.housing2030.org. Remember also to keep an eye on the #Housing2030 hashtag and subscribe for our ‘Making a house a home’ podcast on Anchor, Spotify, Google or Apple podcasts. Stay safe and talk to you soon!

Our home – the place where we now work and play, celebrate holidays and relax might seem to us to be always the same, just as we left it this morning. At the same time, we also know that housing is developing as we are speaking. Isn’t that a fascinating paradox? Housing renovation is now on nearly all political agendas, seen as a way to achieve climate goals, improve people’s lives and boost the economy. Innovative solutions and models are coming from different corners of Europe. We see the advancement, but we also see the global health pandemic as a constant reminder of a further deepening housing crisis. With so much going on, we might need a second pair of eyes to see the spectrum of achievements and challenges in the sector. Welcome to the podcast of Housing Europe, the European federation of public, cooperative and social housing providers. This episode is dedicated to the ‘Housing 2030’ joint international initiative of Housing Europe, UN-Habitat and UNECE. The guest of ‘Making a house a home’ today is one of the Housing 2030 researchers - Dr Holger Wallbaum – a Professor of Sustainable building at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden and an internationally recognised expert in the field of various kinds of sustainability assessments of buildings, road infrastructures, districts and cities. Being a frequent member of evaluation committees of several EU member state research councils and the Research and Innovation programme of the EU, he knows what innovating to face the new frontiers is. We can continue the conversation during the next Housing 2030 digital conference 'Climate change, environmental and health impacts on housing affordability' which will be held on 10th November and will host an excellent line up of speakers. You can find all information about the event on our website www.housingeurope.eu. If you would like to listen to new episodes that are fresh from the oven, feel free to subscribe on Anchor, Spotify, Google or Apple podcasts. Let’s kick off the discussion with Holger Wallbaum together.

In episode 2 of our Coronavirus podcast series, we welcome the Secretary General of Housing Europe, Sorcha Edwards. Since it’s been a while we can’t meet in the office, we had a Skype Call with Sorcha to discuss which aspects of an existing, underlying housing crisis has the current pandemic put forward and the response of the public, cooperative and social housing providers to this extremely challenging reality. After dealing with the present emergency, what should a medium to long term policy response look like? Stay with us until the end of our conversation to find out.