Overview of the Campaign Asks

A. Build more public, social and cooperative housing 

1. Increase public expenditure (% of GDP) on affordable house building (both demand side and supply side – to stop the declining trend of the government support to social housing and use public leverage to develop affordable rental options in countries with a strong bias towards homeownership.

2. Maintain or expand tax and financial reductions for the building of affordable housing.

3. Set up adequate instruments to make purchasing of land for affordable house building more affordable and promote alternative forms of land ownership such as cooperative and community land trust.

B. Increase the quality of existing homes

1. Support the renovation of affordable homes through innovations and better skills: cost effective measures for the refurbishment of homes thanks to adapted processes, procurement methods, technologies, materials and skills.

2. Give citizens, communities and housing providers the opportunity to be part of the energy system: support a better combination of energy efficiency measures with local production of renewable energy.

3. Strengthen conventional and alternative ways to finance the renovation of social housing; create or secure agreement with entities that provide low cost long term capital funding for renovation of the existing stock.

C. Make the cities more inclusive

1. Better integrate refugees, homeless and other vulnerable population groups in cities using a range of instruments around sustainable and permanent housing (i.e. support to education, health and employment)  to avoid the increase of segregation and inequalities within cities.

2. Adapt of our cities to the challenge of independent living: accessibility of the built environment as well as social support to help elderly and persons with disabilities to stay in their homes as long as they wish.

3. Mainstream participatory processes in the field of urban development and regeneration and develop alternative forms of housing, land and energy production and consumption.

As far as the EU regulations on state aid are concerned

• continue the current exemption of social housing within the SGEI Decision
• change the definition of social housing from the SGEI Decision by removing the reference to certain target groups (‘disadvantaged citizens or socially less advantaged groups ‘) while taking into account the local housing needs of those who ‘due to solvency constraints are unable to obtain housing at market conditions.’
• help provide guidance and streamline the rules for social housing purposes and to increase legal certainty and transparency, especially regarding the prevention of overcompensation.
• work with stakeholders, such as citizens, cities and housing actors, within the EU Urban Agenda, on more coherence of European policies (social, internal market, competition, energy) that  relate to social and affordable housing.