Last week, the European Federation for Living (EFL) with Convene and Campbell Tickell hosted a topic group to create an overview of alternative financing modules for social housing. Here are our key takeaways from each talk:

Fitch Ratings, delivered by Jessica Hinds and Michael Brooks, presented an in-depth overview of the economic state of Europe. They predicted an overall positive trajectory but were inclined to exploring new financing methods for social housing.

The first to present was Stanimira Milcheva, a Real Estate Finance professor at UCL. She named two restraints regarding affordability. An insufficient supply of housing and an insufficient supply of social and affordable rent. She suggested Shared Ownership as a more accessible and stable way of joining the property ladder.

Schuldschein-loans were also explored by Christian Fuest, from Dr Klein Wowi, as a viable option for affordable housing. He pointed out the speed of access, the large-financing possibilities and the usual unsecured nature of the loans.

David Williams, Partner at Campbell Tickell, gave context surrounding housing associations and mergers, underlining the importance of the GVC regulatory assessment.

Following David, Steve Partridge (Director, Head of Housing Consultancy at Savills) held a presentation about For-Profit Registered Providers (FPRPs). He underlined that housing associations are selling stock to raise capital and referred to private investments already being implemented in different modules.

Finally, the topic group welcomed Sören Lutken and Clara Camasara to explain the practicality of Carbon Credits in Europe and its role in social housing.

 

This discussion enabled the topic group to consider both the advantages of these modules and the challenges that housing associations might face. Moving forward, we anticipate EFL’s joint six-month evaluation. With policies and regulations across Europe in mind, financing models will be assessed to determine the best path for social housing.

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