The Commission's Renovation Wave strategy for Europe aims to green buildings, create jobs and improve lives. This strategy intends to at least double renovation rates in the EU by breaking down longstanding barriers to energy and resource-efficient renovation as well as improving reuse and recycling. By 2030, the construction sector could see 35 million renovated buildings and up to 160,000 additional green jobs.

The Affordable Housing Initiative (AHI) aims to make sure that social and affordable housing also benefit from the Renovation Wave. It will guarantee local social housing projects’ access to required technical and innovation capacity and project support by:

• piloting the renovation of 100 ‘Lighthouse Districts’ with a smart neighbourhood approach focused on liveability and innovation; 
• providing blueprints for replication to show the way to other districts across Europe by tapping into existing best practices; 
• mobilising cross-sectoral partnerships and linking them to local actors, such as social economy, SMEs, local authorities, housing associations, and civil society; 
• promoting efficient access and use of innovative processes such as circular and modular buildings as well as social innovation and engagement models to empower residents in the renovation process. 

In 2022, ECTP and 9 committed partners were tasked by the European Commission with the take-off of the European Affordable Housing Initiative and launched the European Affordable Housing Consortium, SHAPE-EU project, with the aim of supporting SMEs, public authorities and social and affordable housing providers in their planning and building renovation projects.

Throughout the European Affordable Housing Consortium, many key outputs were produced:

3 Blueprints with tried and tested approaches which will answer your questions on how to plan and implement innovative renovations that leave no one behind. They will help public, cooperative, social housing providers, SMEs, and cities to answer their questions on the following topics.

• Governance, Finance and Policy
• Technologies and Technical Approaches
• Social inclusiveness and liveability

A Handbook with best practices was published.

22 Supported districts from different corners of Europe that received tailored support for their renovation project.

13 Mentors helped local actors improve their renovation projects in one-to-one sessions.

4 Study visits helped about 40 public, cooperative, social housing providers, cities, and SMEs to understand from peers how projects have come to life.

A Funding Simulator that provides a snapshot of existing public and private finance that can be used for renovation projects at the district level.

450+ engaged housing providers, cities, SMEs through conferences and trainings.

Watch this 3-minute video that provides a feeling of the work that has been done and download the summary of results.