The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group are partnering with Europe's national promotional banks (NPBs) and international financial institutions (IFIs) to develop new financing opportunities for affordable and sustainable housing across Europe. At the EIB Group Forum in Luxembourg today, European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen and EIB Group President Nadia Calviño underlined the importance of tackling one of the most pressing concerns of citizens and governments in the European Union.They advocated a pan-European push that brings together local and national, public and private actors to catalyse finance and urgent action under the Commission's upcoming European Affordable Housing Plan.

Their call comes as the EIB Group completes work on an Action Plan for Affordable and Sustainable Housing with planned investments of around €10 billion over the next two years. The EIB Plan will support local and national efforts to build more affordable homes, renovate existing housing stock to be more energy efficient and encourage more sustainable and innovative building materials and equipment. The EIB also launched a housing portal, a one-stop shop to support final beneficiaries to access advice and finance. The EIB Group's investment aims to deliver 1.5 million new or renovated housing units across Europe. The EIB Action Plan and the portal are key building blocks for the pan-European investment platform, which will be open to other players such as NPBs and IFIs. The Council of European Development Bank has also signalled its interest in participating.