EU Researchers Probe 16 Housing Models as 10% of Europeans Face Energy and Cost Strain
Updated
Updated · Cyprus Mail · Aug 23
EU Researchers Probe 16 Housing Models as 10% of Europeans Face Energy and Cost Strain
2 articles · Updated · Cyprus Mail · Aug 23
Summary
EU-funded teams are testing whether housing affordability and energy poverty can be tackled together, drawing on 16 local initiatives across eight countries and surveys of about 30,000 households.
Nearly 10% of EU citizens spend more than 40% of disposable income on housing and utilities, while almost 10% cannot keep homes warm enough, underscoring how rent, heating and cooling pressures overlap.
Karlsruhe’s 20-year cooperative housing program and Thessaloniki’s renovation of 40 long-empty homes — with 60 more planned within three years — are being studied as models for social rentals paired with energy upgrades.
A parallel EU project surveyed almost 15,000 households across eight countries and found migrants, Roma communities and Ukrainian refugees often face structural barriers, insecure tenure and inefficient homes that deepen exclusion.
Both teams argue greener housing alone will not ensure fairness, and say municipalities need joined-up, neighborhood-level policies designed with vulnerable residents rather than siloed housing and energy programs.