EU cities explore fair finance to boost adequate and affordable housing

UIA autre Soie Credits to Noé Bravoux

Local government actions to regulate housing markets and combat exclusion are showcased in a joint URBACT-UIA initiative running through 2020.

Adequate housing is a right enshrined in international human rights law. But when property speculation and other factors inflate rental and real estate prices, what can cites do to ensure adequate and affordable homes for all? Measures to de-financialise housing were among the responses explored by urban researchers, campaigners and city representatives in the online ‘Fair finance’ conference, run jointly by URBACT and Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) in November 2020.

Any local efforts to provide fair access to housing are set in a complex context of international investment, fluctuating markets, and multiple levels of policy. With this in mind, the URBACT-UIA Fair finance webinar debated the roles, responsibilities and actions of local administrations in controlling their housing markets to fight exclusion, showcasing examples from partner cities.

More to come

Though Fair finance is the final webinar in the series, URBACT and UIA’s joint work on the right to housing continues. Look out for upcoming podcasts, videos and more on the new online platform on housing in 2021.

More information

URBACT-UIA Housing initiative, a one-year learning activity on “cities engaging in the right to housing” coordinated by Laura Colini, UIA-URBACT Expert
How to accomplish the “right to housing” – examples from Berlin and Barcelona
OHCR-UN Habitat factsheet ‘The Right to Adequate Housing’