The EU-funded project HouseInc that uses innovative methodologies and approaches to analyse the interlinked dimensions of housing inequalities in four European countries has come up with 10 targeted solultions to help address the ongoing housing crisis.
Sustainable, inclusive and affordable – researchers provide actionable solutions for housing
Housing insecurity, energy poverty, and social exclusion remain critical challenges across European cities and make the headlines daily. Over the past three years, a project receiving support from the European Commission’s Horizon programme, HouseInc, has brought together researchers, policymakers, and local communities to investigate the root causes of housing marginalization—and, more importantly, to identify scalable solutions. These solutions range from innovative financing models and community-led housing initiatives to energy efficiency retrofits and inclusive governance frameworks.
Housing sparked lively discussions across September, continuing in October, between the publication of the Housing affordable act and Spanish growing public pressure over raising housing costs and eviction of 87- year-old woman. A week ago, the Spanish government reacted with two new decrees aimed at tackling the country’s housing crisis, including stronger protection against evictions, limits on speculative purchases to tax incentives, and new renting rules and zero-interest financing to support first buyers… quickly overruled by Spanish Congress.
Finding an affordable, safe, and warm place to live shouldn’t feel like winning the lottery. Yet, for millions of people across Europe, rising housing costs, high energy bills, and systemic hurdles make secure housing harder and harder to reach. Over the past three years, the EU-funded HouseInc project set out to answer a simple question: How can we make housing fairer and more inclusive for everyone? HouseInc researchers compiled initiatives and innovations devoted to tackling housing inequalities: 222 solutions mapped and analysed in relation to three core dimensions; affordability, sustainability, and inclusivity, in an atlas freely available.
The research was then completed by empirical surveys and targeted focus groups with key policy, financial, and community stakeholders, leading to the development of 10 solutions factsheets. Each presents an actionable pathway to tackle housing inequality across Europe, translating rigorous evidence into practice. Designed to inform and support municipal governments, social housing providers, investors, and policymakers, the briefings outline the core problem, operational setup, enabling conditions, and potential barriers to help adapt and scale effective housing initiatives at both national and European levels, with a focus on vulnerable populations.
Deep-dive research meets actionable policy
Each factsheet tackles a real-world problem and shares concrete ideas from across Europe that communities, local and national policymakers, and everyday advocates can actually use:
- Warmer homes, lower bills: how to make energy-efficient upgrades accessible to households on lower incomes.
- Community first: how neighbourhoods are coming together to create co-housing and cooperative options.
- Smarter funding: fresh approaches to financing homes that prioritize people over profit.
- Multilevel governance: Simple steps for local governments to ensure marginalized voices help shape housing policy.
Resources
- Full report: https://ieecp.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/HouseInc_D6.3_final.pdf
- 10 factsheets: https://ieecp.org/2026/10/02/sustainable-inclusive-and-affordable-researchers-provide-actionable-solutions-for-housing/
More about HouseInc
HouseInc seeks to contribute to Europe’s green and just transition by explicitly addressing the question of social justice in the housing sector. The project investigated housing inequality, with a special emphasis on energy poverty, and examined how housing inequality impacts leisure, mobility, employment and health. A multinational survey was carried out to provide a snapshot of the impact of both COVID-19 and the invasion of Ukraine on the different dimensions of housing inequality. Coming next: a set of validated policy recommendations that help policymakers understand the economic, social and ecological drivers of housing inequalities. The project is coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research and partners include organisations working on the ground with diverse marginalised communities including refugees, Roma communities, migrants from Eastern Europe as well as elderly, with a focus on 4 pilots in Germany, Italy, Czech Republic and Romania.
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