Project Overview
The EU is facing a housing crisis with a lack of affordable, sustainable, and inclusive housing. Many EU citizens are currently faced with poor living conditions. According to Eurostat data, in 2022, 16.8% of EU citizens lived in overcrowded households, with higher rates in Eastern Europe. Energy poverty is also on the rise, with 9.3% of the EU population unable to keep their homes adequately warm in 2022. The recent surge in energy and fuel prices has worsened this situation. Other factors that impact the quality of housing include, leaking roofs, damp walls, floors or foundations, or rot in window frames or floors, which were experienced by 14.8% of EU citizens in 2020. The cost of housing is also a burden, with 10.8% of the EU population living in a household where housing costs represent more than 40% of disposable income, in 2022.
Housing inequality, defined as disparity in the access, affordability, quality of housing conditions and availability of housing between different groups of people, affects many in the EU, with those living in or at risk of poverty disproportionately impacted. The quality of housing goes beyond the physical structure of a building and has impacts on health and well-being, economic and working conditions, and social cohesion. Poor quality housing has a harmful impact on society and leads to social exclusion by depriving occupants of social and economic opportunities.
HouseInc will address housing inequalities by contributing to policy measures that will seek to increase access to affordable, inclusive and sustainable housing for marginalised groups in society.
The overall objective of the HouseInc project is to deeply analyse interlinked dimensions of housing inequalities, with a particular focus on marginalised communities – through innovative methodologies and approaches. HouseInc will assess and test drivers of and impacts on micro/meso/macro levels to identify interlinkages among ecological (environmental), social (labour, mobility, health and family), and economic (income, energy price) conditions and address the multidimensionality of housing inequality. By taking a holistic approach, HouseInc will provide solutions that aim to relieve the burden of housing inequality in 4 marginalised communities in Europe.
How can we turn Europe’s building stock into healthy and affordable homes for all?
HouseInc will investigate the economic, social and ecological drivers and effects of housing inequality to derive and co-design high-quality policy recommendations for local, regional and national policymakers to foster the adoption of effective and innovative measures to address current housing inequality in Europe.
HouseInc will explore:
- The drivers of housing inequality and their interaction with related issues: energy and mobility poverty, digital dimensions, employment opportunities, family conditions and health.
- Assess the impacts at geographical scale by examining the urban/local and local/regional vs national conditions and will investigate how proximity or distance to work, energy, transport and health infrastructure and services impacts the different dimensions of housing inequalities.
By providing a complete understanding of the drivers and effects of the various interlinking dimensions of housing inequality and translating them into policy recommendations and adaptable solutions to housing inequalities, HouseInc will help to mitigate the impacts of income and wealth polarization. The project will prioritize marginalized and vulnerable groups in its research, with diversity dimensions such as gender playing a crucial role in achieving a just energy transition and ensuring affordable, sustainable, and inclusive housing. Social justice is at the heart of HouseInc and the project will support the most vulnerable communities by identifying the systemic barriers to housing equality.
Beyond the 4 pilot countries, the project will also have a wider impact by directly contributing to at least 9 out of 17 Sustainable Development Goal (SDGS). The project ‘s holistic and systemic approach to understanding housing inequalities will help contribute to reducing inequalities and mitigating poverty, enhancing health and wellbeing, gender equality, providing good housing conditions and basic services (clean water, electricity), and the development of sustainable and inclusive cities and communities throughout Europe.
Key project outputs
- Policy recommendations to provide guidelines for policymakers.
- A multinational survey to better understand the impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and COVID 19 on housing inequality.
- Establish multistakeholder Living Labs to co-design solutions at local and regional levels.
Objectives
HouseInc has 6 main objectives:
- Apply a holistic and shared integrated methodological approach combining micro-meso-macro analysis to study interlinkages among dimensions of housing inequalities as well as socio-demographic characteristics of marginalised communities.
- Assess and help policymakers understand economic, social and ecological drivers of and related effects on housing inequalities and examine pathways and impacts of their interaction.
- Analyse and assess the effects of different types of tenure and policies on housing inequalities.
- Investigate the role of geographic scale and conceptualize proximity/distance regarding fragilities in dimensions of housing inequality.
- Map, co-design and scale-up social, economic and ecologic/digital solutions to housing inequalities in the context of marginalised communities.
- Derive, co-design and validate empirically based and high-quality policy recommendations to address interlinked dimensions of housing inequality on the local, regional and national level.
Core Countries
The HouseInc consortium is investigating the intricacies of existing housing policies, analyzing their impacts on inequality, and exploring both financial and socio-environmental factors that contribute to housing disparities. The project is focused on how these issues affect vulnerable populations, such as women, children and minorities. As part of their in-depth exploration, HouseInc is examining housing inequality through four diverse case studies across Europe.
By taking a holistic approach, HouseInc will provide solutions that aim to relieve the burden of housing inequality in 4 marginalised communities in Europe (Roma communities (in Czech Republic and Romania) as well as Ukrainian refugees (in Italy) and migrants from Eastern Europe (in Germany). The selected case studies put a special focus on Eastern Europe and the impact of Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine.
Activities include interviews, analysing the policy framework, participatory focus groups with the case study communities to identify drivers and impacts of housing inequalities, and more.
Resources and Materials
Research papers
Multimedia – Brochures, infographics and posters
Reports
The following reports will be added as they become available. Please note they are still subject to the European Commission’s approval.
- D8.1 – Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation Plan (V1), IEECP, May 2024
- D1.8 – Project’s Ethical Research Guidelines, Fraunhofer ISI, July 2024
- D2.1 – State of the art literature report, Fraunhofer ISI, July 2024
- D2.2 – Conceptual Framework, Fraunhofer ISI, November 2024
- D3.1 – Report on selection of datasets and indicators for selected countries, January 2025, ISAS
- D3.3 – Meta-study on effects of housing policies, January 2025, DIW
- D4.2 – Smart meter data model for identification of energy poverty, January 2025, UCL
- D5.9 – Interlinkages of housing inequalities: Findings from the case studies, May 2025, ISI
Coming soon
- D3.2 – Report on drivers of financial levels of housing inequality, M24, ISAS
- D3.4 – Multinational database of housing market regulations DATA -not report
- D3.5 – Report on impact of wealth and income inequality on housing markets, M27, ISAS
- D4.1 – Effects of energy poverty incl. the analysis of the multinational survey, M24, imec
- D4.3 – Report on impacts of wider housing Inequalities, M21, UCL
- D4.4 – Report on effects of climate change using the case of overheating, M28, UCL
- D5.10 – Database on housing inequalities in the case studies (incl. infographics), DATA & infog, M33, UNIBO
- D5.11 – Capacity-building toolkit for addressing housing inequalities, M24, UNIBO
- D6.1 – Atlas of existing solutions addressing housing inequalities, M17, BOCCONI
- D6.2 – Report on Living Labs solutions for addressing housing inequalities, M27, UNIBO
- D6.3 – Roadmap to scaling-up identified solutions, incl. at least 10 factsheets, M29, BOCCONI
- D7.1 – Synthesis of project results and first draft of policy recommendations, M27, EPG
- D7.2 – Country snapshot reports, M29, EPG
- D7.3 – 2nd draft of policy recommendations, M31, EPG
- D7.4 – Set of policy briefs, M36, EPG
- D8.2 – Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation Plan (CDEP, Version 2), M18
- D8.3 – Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation Plan (CDEP, final), M30
- D8.6 – Report on communication and dissemination activities (Version 1), M18
- D8.7 – Report on communication and dissemination activities (final), M36
Sister projects
Within HouseInc, we set up a group of sister projects working on housing inequalities and marginalised communities, willing to organise joint events, write briefings, etc. Do not hesitate to write to us if you are interested to join our soon to start regular calls: marine (at) ieecp.org
Meet the projects!
ReHousIn – The European project ReHousIn: Reducing Housing Inequalities aims to spark innovative policy solutions towards inclusionary and quality housing. Website – LinkedIn
EqualHouse – EqualHouse is a research project that aims to identify key housing inequalities across Europe, analyze their scale and causes, and provide guidance for policymakers. – Website – LinkedIn
Prefigure – Pathways to inclusive, affordable, and sustainable housing – Website – LinkedIn
Prolight – Affordable housing for remodelled neighbourhoods across Europe- Website – LinkedIn
Powgen – Labor insertion of migrant people in the renewable energy sector and energy rehabilitation through training and sustainable employment opportunities – Website – LinkedIn
Contacts
Project coordinator
Dr. Anne Kantel, Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung ISI, [email protected]
Communication Lead
Marine Faber Perrio, IEECP, [email protected]
