Shaping Private Capital – Conditionalities for Affordable, Sustainable Housing

On March 16, 2026, IHRB, the Taskforce on Affordable and Sustainable Housing (TASH), the European Environmental Bureau and partners brought together civil society organisations, investors and policymakers to discuss the conditions that should be attached to the EU’s investment in housing projects, to ensure it delivers affordable and sustainable homes. 

Event Background

In December 2025, the European Union launched a landmark effort to tackle the housing crisis, committing - in partnership with the European Investment Bank (EIB) - over €50 billion in investment, alongside €375 billion from national and regional promotional banks by 2029. 

Despite these record sums, a €150 billion annual investment gap remains. Across many countries, closing this gap requires crowding in private capital at an unprecedented scale, particularly through the new Pan-European Investment Platform. 

Private investment can help deliver new housing, retrofit homes and accelerate innovation, yet it also risks fuelling price increases or driving sub-standard construction. To ensure that public de-risking leads to long-term public good, private capital must be shaped by robust conditionalities.

Discussion Summary

This event brought together investors, civil society organisations, policymakers (EU Commission and Parliamentarians), and the EIB to discuss how conditionalities or safeguards can ensure any capital that’s crowded in is aligned to the EU’s policy objectives. 

The value of conditionalities – requirements for private capital that ensure public resources are used for public interest objectives – was acknowledged by all participants. Many highlighted that patient, values-aligned capital is available, but that – without safeguards – it’s often crowded out by more unscrupulous, extractive capital. Several investors highlighted that regulations and conditionalities aren’t a problem: the problems are uncertainty or regulatory volatility. The Pan-European Platform therefore provides a generational opportunity to establish a clear, long-term framework that levels the playing field for responsible investors who can make housing truly affordable and sustainable. 

Participants discussed examples of existing conditionalities, and there was general agreement that:

• EU / public investment must prioritise (1) empty buildings, (2) retrofits and – only where necessary – new builds
• De-risking should only be in place for housing projects where rents or prices are capped or regulated: public and social housing, affordable housing, or collective ownership models
• Market-rate projects should not receive public funds. For mixed-tenure projects, support should be ringfenced to the non-market elements. 

There was recognition that the patchwork of regulatory frameworks across Member States makes pan-European conditionalities challenging, but examples already exist: blanket EU-wide ones were set out in the Recovery and Resilience Facility, and the EIB has set out a “relative” requirement for housing projects they fund to exceed the relevant national target set through the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) by 10%.

Next steps

Over the coming months, the EU Commission and EIB will set out the framework that will underpin the rollout of the public support for housing across Europe. It’s critical that this be set in collaboration with all affected stakeholders, from investors to housing tenants and NGOs - many of which attended the workshop.

Participants look forward to an ongoing dialogue with the EIB and EU Commission to develop safeguards that ensure the fulfilment of the policy objectives and allow the patient, values-aligned capital to be crowded in rather than pushed out by more extractive investment.