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Housing and Cities in a time of change
The added value of research is now higher than ever
The European Network for Housing Research (ENHR) holds its annual conference, the biggest event dedicated to housing research, in Lisbon and raises questions around the significance of people for cities and housing in today’s transformative times. The Housing Europe Observatory will be there and will use the occasion to stress the increasing importance of research for the evidence-based political decisions that affect the affordable housing sector.
Providing with accurate and up-to-date facts and figures is vital both for the civil society and the policy makers. The debate around housing in the member states should be based on the actual needs and circumstances and not just on ideologies and political rivalries. Housing research may be the sole solid argumentation behind the future of the sector.
Read more on our website
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TTIP plenary vote postponed: The next steps
The European Parliament report on Economic Governance to be discussed this week
The latest updates related to two of the European Parliament reports that have attracted a lot of attention.
TTIP
The debate and vote on Parliament's recommendations on the ongoing Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations were postponed because of the high number of amendments tabled.
What happens next and what does Housing Europe think? Read more on our website
Economic Governance
Today’s economic governance rules for the euro area are not working as well as they should. This is because they are too complex, lack ownership and are not consistently enforced, say Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee MEPs in a resolution voted on Tuesday, June 16. The text - drafted by Pervenche Berès (S&D, FR) and approved by 33 votes to 24 with 1 abstention- will become Parliament’s input to the 25 June European Council.
Read the view of the rapporteur, Pervenche Berès (S & D, FR) as well as the link with the European Semester procedure in our summary
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No reduced VAT rate for materials allowing energy saving
The European Court of Justice Ruling
One of the latest decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) affects the UK housing sector but may also affect housing across the EU. Our French member USH explains...
Read the analysis by Virginie Toussain on our website
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Housing and living conditions of migrants
Eurostat releases updated statistics
Housing and living conditions are considered to be fundamental aspects of migrants’ integration. New statistics from Eurostat show that migrant population has to some extent different housing patterns from nationals, and differences are also evident between EU and non-EU foreign citizens.
Read more and check out the situation in your country
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Heat metering, efficient heat cost allocation and billing - Challenges and Opportunities
Experiences from public, cooperative and social housing
Housing Europe and the chair of the Energy, Construction and Standardization Committee, Johanna Ode has been invited to contribute to the European Commission evaluation of the implementation of the metering requirements included in the Energy efficiency directive (EED). It was a good opportunity to ask Housing Europe’s members about their experience in dealing with energy metering in dwellings.
The experience within the public, cooperative and social housing sectors shows that individual heat metering and billing is feasible in some countries, but not others because of the ways homes are built and because of the existing regulations in the field of rent and energy bills.
Read the full article on our website
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Housing Europe Working Committees
Draft Report of the June 2015 meetings (*)
The Housing Europe Working Committees held their tri-monthly meeting in Brussels on the premises of the Social Platform on June 8th and 9th. We have gathered all the highlights and the presentations of both days.
Read our review and download the files you are interested in
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“Social mixing is not a one-size-fits-all solution to urban problems”
An interview with Professor Maarten Van Ham
There aren’t many researchers in Europe dealing with urban issues who have received a 2 million € grant for their work. In 2014 the European Research Council acknowledged the added value of DEPRIVEDHOODS in examining socio-spatial inequality, deprived neighbourhoods, and neighbourhood effects and supported the 5-year research project that has already been launched last August.
Professor Van Ham will be addressing the Housing Europe members at one of the General Assembly 2015 thematic discussions that will focus on “Social Mix and Sustainable Communities”.
Just a few weeks before listening to him in Lisbon, we have asked him to share with us more information about his latest research projects as well as his views on social mix and the role of housing providers. Are cities really focusing today on people to quote the key question of the ENHR Conference? Professor Van Ham responds…
Read the interview
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10 minutes with João Carvalhosa, President of CECODHAS Portugal- Meet the faces behind housing providers across Europe
Every month we introduce you to one of the people leading the work of our member organisations. In this edition, just a couple of weeks before the Housing Europe General Assembly there, we head to Lisbon to introduce you to the President of our Portuguese member organisation CECODHAS Portugal, João Carvalhosa.
Read the interview on our blog
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"Sword of Damocles over social housing"
Marc Calon Interview in Der Standard
The Housing Europe President was interviewed during his visit to the GbV Association Day in Klagenfurt by Der Standard. The Austrian national daily broadsheet newspaper discusses with Marc the advantages of social mixing but also the consequences of the latest developments related to the “Dutch Case”.
You may read the interview conducted by Martin Putschögl (in German) here
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European Housing Forum launches its new website
The European Housing Forum (EHF) that brings together representative organisations of the entire housing sector has just launched its updated website. The Forum is a place for exchange and debate, an informal platform which was created back in 1997 following the adoption of a resolution on the social aspect of housing by the European Parliament.
Visit www.europeanhousingforum.eu to find out more about the EHF activities, to access an online library of publications and to virtually meet the members of the network. No need to mention that Housing Europe is a member of the platform...
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ELOSH: save the date for the final event & stay up-to-date
Brussels, September 15th
ELOSH, the European Core Learning Outcomes for Integration of Support and Housing is coming towards its end. The final event of the project will be taking place in Brussels on Tuesday, September 15 th.
The event will present the core learning outcomes in a co-productive way that will illustrate the added value of the concept and of the philosophy of “Co-Production” for policy makers, too. At the same time all 14 partners from 8 member states will have the chance to discuss with key policy makers from the EU Institutions as well as with civil society representatives in the Brussels scene.
The registration will be open soon but until then we invite you to save the date in your calendars, since this will be the first Housign Europe event after summer. At the same time you may always visit elosh.eu to get the latest news, to read stories of the project protagonists and to access various resources.
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Funding opportunities
Check out the Housing Europe Portal & BUILD UP Financing Schemes section (*)
The BUILD UP Financing Schemes section aims to inform eligible beneficiaries, on new and existing funding opportunities in the field of buildings’ energy efficiency. Information relevant to anyone from public authorities to private business, and from professionals to building owners or tenants, is made available on an ongoing basis.
Check out the latest overview
BUILD UP is the European Portal for energy efficiency in buildings. Housing Europe is among the contributing experts, you may register in our community within the page here.
Housing Europe has also update its European Funding portal available to its members only that offers filtered information and guidance for most EU funding opportunities.
Browse through the new posts
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Housing Europe General Assembly 2015
Lisbon, 1-2 July
10 days left to the 2015 General Assembly, our 2-day annual meet up that will take place in Lisbon this year, so we kindly remind you to have a look at the final dossier as well as some last minute information.
You may access all documents on our website or by following the link to the latest e-mail update sent to members.
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Cooperation between the public sector and civil society in providing social Services of General Interest: solutions and concepts in Member States
Brussels, 29.06.2015
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) organises the conference "The cooperation between the public sector and civil society in providing social Services of General Interest: solutions and concepts in Member States" which will take place on 29 June 2015 (09:30-13:00) at the EESC (room VM1), Brussels.
The event aims to exchange best practices of cooperation in different Member States and to reflect on the provision of social Services of General Interest at the European level. The meeting will feature presentations of different solutions and ideas from France, Germany and Poland:
- the "decentralized" model of the "Centres communaux d'action sociale" (France);
- the "institutional" model of the German Association of Public and Private Welfare;
- and a model project from Poland called "Platforms of social services";
- the Members of the EESC Permanent Study Group on Services of General Interest will also be encouraged to present solutions from their own countries.
Interpretation will be provided from/into English, French, German, Spanish, and Polish.
The registration form is available here (deadline 23 June), and the programme is available here.
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Climate Action Webinar on Improving Private Sector Energy Efficiency
Wednesday, July 8th at 15.00 GMT
The role of the private sector in affecting meaningful climate action in the run up to COP21 is essential, with businesses now recognizing the positive economic impacts of leading on such action. Improving energy efficiency within existing supply chains has become a key point of focus, in order to adapt existing operations to save power and money.
Join the live webinar organised by Climate Action on Improving Private Sector Energy Efficiency, taking place on Wednesday 8th July at 3pm GMT.
Sign up and find out more online
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