Southern Europe’s public and social housing confronts common challenges in Florence

Hosted by the Toscana Region and organised by Italy’s public housing provider, Federcasa, the meeting saw representatives from Federcasa (Italy), AVS (Spain), Gebalis (Portugal), the National Housing Fund of Slovenia, and the Housing Authority of Malta—members of Housing Europe—come together with a unified purpose.

Alice Pittini, Housing Europe’s Research Director, presented an EU-level policy overview to open the discussion, highlighting a range of pressing issues facing the region's public housing providers. Among them were the challenges of ageing housing stock and escalating maintenance costs, which put a strain on already limited budgets. Climate resilience emerged as a key concern, as extreme weather patterns increase the need for retrofitting homes to withstand higher temperatures and flooding. Additionally, rapid urbanisation has led to a rising demand for affordable housing amidst a backdrop of scarce resources, while the burden of energy poverty is growing. More than just a meet-up, this was a pivotal moment for the "Pantheon Pact," a growing alliance among Southern European federations that work for decent, affordable housing.