The Majella Wonen initiative (or Majella Living) aims to offer affordable housing for people in shelters and to realize a pleasant neighborhood in a so-called “magical mix”. Portaal Wonen, a member of Aedes- the Association of Dutch Social Housing corporations and a member of Housing Europe- is one of the organizations behind this project.

"There is no project that didn't succeed because of lack of finance, it's usually because of people." These are the words of Andreas Hofer, one of the founding members of Mehr als Wohnen housing cooperative in Zurich. This was his reply to concerns raised by a few of the participants at the recent World Habitat Peer Exchange about the financial struggle they’ve had setting up housing cooperatives in their own countries. Andreas's point is that people can accomplish anything by working together. And that's exactly what they've done at Mehr als Wohnen (More than Housing).

The launch of a new housing strategy by the French government in September 2017 triggered a showdown with the social housing providers. Virginie Toussain, Union Sociale pour l' Habitat (USH) EU Delegation Legal Adviser presents the current state of play.