Housing

Summary

The URBACT Knowledge Hub brings together good practices from across the EU, with the latest urban trends, to fill the gaps and make sure that the learning is within everyone's reach. Today, more European cities and social movements are calling governments at all levels to take responsibility for reaffirming housing as a right and not as a commodity. They are showing the way by trying out concrete actions to implement the right to housing.

Cities Engaging in the Right to Housing

Throughout 2020, Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) and URBACT have explored how cities can design housing policies and practical solutions to implement the right to housing.

We have collected stories and concrete examples from European cities already implementing the right to housing that others can take inspiration from, and gathered in one place:

The activity was structured around three topics and 5 webinars:

Community-led practices: cooperative, co-housing and CLT practices, webinar of 24 April 2020
No one left behind: addressing specific issues of accessibility to adequate housing by vulnerable groups, webinar of 26 June 2020
Fair finance: municipal strategies protecting housing from speculation, webinar of 19 November 2020
European Week's session on how to implement the Right to Housing in Covid times, October 2020
Launch of Right2Housing.eu during a final event on 22 April 2021.

URBACT Networks

ROOF Action Planning Networks aims to achieve the strategic goal of Functional Zero (no structural homelessness).

Check their latest report 'From Street Lockdown to a Roof Over your Head' that draws lessons from Covid-19.

Testimonials

"We can no longer hide behind the fact that officially housing is not a European competence because there are too many EU regulations that affect housing."

Kim van Sparrentak

Member of the European Parliament for the Greens/EFA

"It's proven that Housing First really works: in many cities that are using it, people stay in their house for years. It's also cost-effective, and in the end, cheaper than sheltering."

Patricia Vanderbauwhede

Lead Partner ROOF