Evictions, fuel poverty, increasing homelessness, more people on waiting lists for social housing: these are all elements of the human and economic cost of the policy failures to provide affordable and adequate housing. Cédric van Styvendael, the President of Housing Europe, reminds us: “In Europe we are lucky to live in probably the most privileged part of the world, but we still need to make sure that nobody is left behind.” Housing Europe members are helping deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals, because investing in affordable housing is investing in sustainable development.
Most major European cities are confronted with a great deal of pressure when it comes to housing: urbanisation, migration, labour mobility and demographic changes feed rising housing exclusion rates.
A lack of affordable housing and the resulting exclusion are among the key risks faced by our cities, regions and societies at large. Eurofound is warning that inadequate housing costs our economies 195 billion Euro annually. At the same time, one in ten Europeans spends more than 40% of their income on housing related expenses. The human and economic cost of this policy failure, or in some cases a policy vacuum by leaving it to the market, is becoming difficult to brush over. Among the 17 SDGs and the 169 associated targets, some are more particularly linked to housing. Housing Europe, which envisions a Europe that provides access to decent and affordable housing for all in communities which are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable and where everyone is enabled to reach their full potential, therefore supports the Sustainable Development Goals.
With its campaign “Housing for All” and the contribution to the UN Habitat III conference, Housing Europe has already reminded policy makers of the importance of adopting housing policies that promote sustainable development.
Housing Europe members represent the interest of 43,000 local housing organizations (which manage 26,090,000 dwellings = 11% of the total EU housing stock)
Read more about the total contribution and local projects of Housing Europe Members at http://www.housingeurope.eu/resource-997/housing-and-the-sustainable-development-goals
