Good governance does not have to be a purely “top-down” exercise. Providers of social and affordable housing have always taken a strong role in innovation and improving their sector. 

The idea of this panel would be to explain the core of housing affordability problems in different countries explained from the analysts’ knowledge.

The City of Munich in Germany has adopted a long-term policy for the use of land that it owns.

The five 'sphinxes' each contain fourteen apartments arranged so as to make the most of the location and sun light. The blocks taper in plan towards the water thereby maximising unobstructed views of the lake both from the shore and from the apartments. As one moves up the building, each floor contains one less apartment. The result is a sphinx-like profile with the sun-oriented roof terraces situated on the slanting ‘back’ of the mythical beast. The design of the penthouse apartments is different for each block giving rise to a rhythm of distinctive heads - a striking skyline seen from the shore approach of the Stichtse Bridge that links the new polders with the old mainland.

The State Housing Development Fund (SHDF) of Slovakia was established in 1996 as a revolving fund to finance the priorities of the Government of Slovakia defined in the State Housing Policy Concept. It is an independent entity supervised by the Ministry of Transport and Construction of the Slovak Republic.

The site is located at the centre of the new campus of the Universidade de Coimbra. Two streets define its geometry: a slopped street to the north and an horizontal pedestrian street to the south, between this construction and the canteen of the campus.

185 social student housing units associated with a reversible car park (housing/offices) with a superstructure of 500 spaces, sports hall, multi-purpose hall and shops

Es un estudio encargado por el Ministerio de Vivienda y urbanismo de Chile en el cual se ha realizado un acercamiento al tema desde una perspectiva global, según políticas y tratados internacionales hasta llegar a identificar objetivos nacionales relacionados con la accesibilidad y la vivienda social.

Short-term letting (STL) has grown rapidly as new digital platforms have brought together local accommodation providers with the global tourism market. This has caused numerous problems for cities, their housing markets, and local residents. Indeed, a recent review by the OECD stated that: “the exponential growth in accommodation platforms such as Airbnb in many cities has contributed to a disruption of the local real-estate market.

In Estonia, as a result of mass privatizations of public housing stock in the early 1990s, 97 per cent of people own their own home. Most live in multi-dwelling apartment buildings, which are managed by cooperative-style apartment associations.

All tenants of rented housing in Sweden, including for-profit and non-profit provision, have the right to be involved in negotiating rents and tenancy conditions. This builds on a distinctive history of rented housing regulation which treats all forms of rented housing the same.

Tax incentives can be used to steer investment in energy-efficiency measures. The reduction of VAT or tax deductions on renovation activities, mainly on labour costs, has often created win-win-situations for the environment, economic growth, and created/assured workplaces.

France has extensive experience[1] in developing and applying vacancy taxes, which encourage owners to reintroduce empty dwellings to the housing market in areas where there is unmet demand, in order to improve access, especially by low-income households.