THE FRAMEWORK WE NEED

EU Level

Social EU Taxonomy

The European Union’s taxonomy is an EU-wide classification system for sustainable activities. As such it is a fundamental instrument to (re)direct financial flows. At this stage its focus is on environmental objectives. The EU Taxonomy may be extended beyond environmentally sustainable activities, to cover social objectives. Adequate living standards should have a place in the extended EU Taxonomy to ensure a just transition that leaves no one behind.

These adequate living standards should include – on top of social housing – affordable housing that would need to be defined in a workable manner.

From a practical perspective, affordable housing works along three key criteria:

 

  1. Not solely market-oriented rent as well as constant cost recovery for maintenance and renovation.
  2. Reinvestment: proportionate profit recycling for purchase of building lots, construction, administration, maintenance and renovation.
  3. Buy and hold approach: long-term asset allocation in residential property.
National Level

Local regulation

Member States, regions and communities can support local private initiatives for affordable housing in three ways:

 

  1. Stability, i.e. authorities provide local private initiatives with a long-term, secure regulatory environment.
  2. Subject-oriented, e.g. governments may exempt voluntary employer‘s contributions to rental payments of their employees from taxation and fees up to a certain level.
  3. Object-oriented, e.g. communities may reserve building lots for private investors that qualify along specified criteria.