Joint press release - Launch of a French National Hub for Social, Intermediate and Sustainable Housing

Launch of a French National Hub for Social, Intermediate and Sustainable Housing

On the occasion of the annual French HLM Congress, the Ministry for the City and Housing (the French State), Caisse des Dépôts (CDC), the Union sociale pour l'Habitat (USH), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) today signed a declaration of intent to establish a French National Hub dedicated to social, intermediate and sustainable housing (“the Hub”).

Supported by the European Commission, this initiative forms part of the European Affordable Housing Plan presented in December 2025 and marks a major step forward in addressing the housing crisis, characterised by rising prices and rents, a slowdown in new construction and growing difficulties for many households in accessing housing.

A national Hub to bring together expertise and mobilise European resources and funding

The Hub, resulting from cooperation between the five signatories, will serve as a new platform of cooperation with the following objectives:

• Highlight and facilitate access to European resources and funding (loans, guarantees, engineering credits) that can be mobilised for social housing and accommodation projects, which are the Hub's priority, as well as for affordable housing;
• Facilitate technical support to project developers;
• Share, on an indicative basis, projected volumes and investment needs in social and intermediate housing and accommodation;
• Share the expertise of Hub stakeholders and exchange in a dialogue to identify barriers to social and intermediate housing and accommodation projects.

Cooperation building on the experience of the 2020 European Alliance for Sustainable and Inclusive Social Housing in France

This initiative builds on the successful experience of the " European Alliance for Sustainable and Inclusive Social Housing in France", launched in 2020 by USH, CDC, EIB and CEB. This Alliance has already helped mobilise European resources for social housing and specialised accommodation through the Banque des Territoires (Caisse des Dépôts Group).

A strong commitment to concrete action: the three pillars of cooperation of the Hub

1. Enhancing and facilitating access to European funding for social and affordable housing and measures to combat homelessness

The Hub will focus on promoting and facilitating access to European resources and funding to support investments in social housing and temporary accommodation projects, as well as affordable housing projects. This approach will build on the successful experience of the 2020 European Alliance, which emphasised the pivotal role of CDC through the Banque des Territoires in mobilising EIB and CEB resources for investment in social housing in France.

Hub stakeholders will work to make European financial tools more visible and accessible to project developers and local actors. Bilateral agreements may be established between CDC and European financial institutions, while respecting each partner's internal procedures.

1. Technical support for project promoters

The Hub will serve as a cooperation and exchange platform to facilitate technical support for project promoters. The parties will collaborate to improve access to national and European resources for project engineering financing and to promote innovative construction and renovation methods.

This cooperation will also enable the sharing of best practices in project structuring, financing and implementation. Lessons learned from these exchanges may be disseminated for the benefit of public actors and project developers.

1. Sharing expertise and identifying levers for action

The third pillar of the Hub will consist of sharing expertise among the parties in order to assess investment needs in social housing, accommodation and intermediate housing. This assessment will take into account national and European priorities, as well as those of the Council of Europe.

The Hub will also help to showcase existing initiatives, such as economic analysis studies and cost observatories, while identifying financial and operational levers to encourage innovative construction and renovation methods tailored to the sector's needs.

Finally, the parties will exchange views on the barriers identified in delivering housing projects, with a view to informing the French State and supporting proposals for legislative or regulatory changes.

For more information

About the Hub Partners - Key Housing Stakeholders in France and Europe:

Ministry for Urban Affairs and Housing: The Ministry for Urban Affairs and Housing prepares and implements the Government's policy in the areas of housing, construction, urban planning, land development, emergency accommodation and urban policy.

Caisse des Dépôts (CDC): Caisse des Dépôts and its subsidiaries form a public group and long-term investor serving the public interest and the economic development of territories. It brings together five areas of expertise: social policies (pensions, vocational training, disability, elderly care and health), asset management, monitoring of subsidiaries and holdings, business financing (with Bpifrance) and the Banque des Territoires.

L'Union sociale pour l'habitat (USH) represents, in metropolitan France and overseas territories, some 548 social housing operators (as of end-2025) through its five federations (the National Federation of Public Housing Authorities, Social Housing Enterprises, the National Federation of Cooperative Housing Societies (Coop'Hlm), PROCIVIS UES-AP and the National Federation of Regional Associations of Social Housing Organisations). It has three missions: national representation to public authorities, media, professional circles and public opinion; reflection, analysis and study on all housing-related issues and the development of proposals for a social housing policy; and information, advice and assistance to social housing organisations to facilitate, rationalise and develop their activities and professional skills. In 2025, social housing organisations started construction on 94,400 new homes and accommodation centres. They own and manage 4.9 million rental homes and 0.39 million accommodation centres, housing approximately 10.4 million people. Social housing operators are also major players in social home ownership: in 2025, 7,300 homes were sold to buyers, in group or individual schemes. Run by 12,000 volunteer administrators, they employ 85,000 staff.

European Investment Bank Group (EIB Group): Wholly owned by the 27 EU Member States, the EIB Group is the EU's long-term financing institution. In 2025, it signed €100 billion in new financing, including €13 billion in France. In the housing sector, the EIB Group works with the European Commission, national governments, cities, national development banks and financial intermediaries to strengthen support for the sector. The EIB Group has launched an Action Plan for Affordable and Sustainable Housing, which aims to increase financing across Europe to €6 billion in 2026, provide end-to-end support and accelerate the implementation of market solutions. The Group has worked with its partners to create the online portal "More Housing. Better Housing", which has been approved by the European Commission as a first step towards a pan-European investment platform.

Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB): The CEB is a multilateral development bank with an exclusively social mandate given by its 43 member countries. The CEB funds investments and provides technical assistance across the social sectors, with a focus on integrated solutions and the needs of low-income and vulnerable people, as well as the social dimensions of climate change and the environment. The CEB can also mobilise its resources to co-finance and/or provide bridge financing for investments funded by the European Union. In the housing sector, the Bank finances non-segregated and accessible rental housing (construction, renovation, reconstruction and acquisition); access to home ownership (e.g. social mortgages); and emergency accommodation solutions. Potential partners include governments, local and regional authorities, public and private banks, non-profit organisations and other actors.

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