Funding programme

The New European Bauhaus Initiative brings citizens, experts, businesses, and institutions together to reimagine sustainable living in Europe and beyond.

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Call overview

This call aims to develop and demonstrate innovative, sustainable, and cost-effective approaches to constructing and renovating social and affordable housing.

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Background

The New European Bauhaus (NEB) was launched in 2021, striving to translate the European Green Deal into tangible change on the ground. This policy and funding initiative was further strengthened in the political guidelines for the European Commission 2024-2029 under the goal Supporting people, strengthening our societies and our social model.

The political guidelines highlight that the NEB can bring sustainability together with inclusion and affordability, and creativity with innovation. Challenges like the housing crisis or the green transformation are addressed by putting people’s needs first, with the goal to improve their lives. The NEB also contributes to creating lead markets for the Clean Industrial Deal by considering embodied greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, the NEB fosters the development of innovative solutions in the built environment and beyond.

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Expected Outcome

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Reduced costs for both the construction and renovation of social and affordable housing without sacrificing quality.
• Increased availability and affordability of quality housing for diverse and vulnerable populations across Europe.
• Significantly reduced energy consumption, carbon emissions, and resource use in social and affordable housing as well as improved climate adaptability and resilience to climate change of social and affordable housing.
• Higher awareness of the construction ecosystem and the real estate sector of innovative approaches that increase affordability and sustainability of housing.

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Scope

An increasing number of new building technologies and construction methods became available on the market in recent years that can make construction and renovation more sustainable. Current policies and regulations set ambitious standards (e.g., in terms of energy efficiency and carbon footprint), which come with higher initial investment costs, making the provision of sustainable, high-quality social and affordable housing in many European neighbourhoods a challenge.

Innovative approaches are necessary to make the best use of available building technologies and construction methods to improve climate adaptability and resilience and reduce energy consumption, carbon emissions and resource use in social and affordable housing while delivering housing that is affordable, inclusive and improves well-being, in line with the European Commission’s Affordable Housing Initiative.

Proposals are expected to address all of the following:

• Develop innovative approaches for the construction of new buildings and the renovation or retrofitting of existing buildings in the social and affordable housing sector. These innovative approaches must relate to how construction and renovation services are defined, procured, delivered, financed and/or managed.
• Define and implement in two social and affordable housing projects two ambitious packages of measures that comprise building technologies and construction methods already on the market. One package of measures must be applied to a new construction and the other to a building renovation or retrofitting. They will address all of the following:
  • Use existing building technologies and construction methods that improve the efficiency and speed of construction and renovation or retrofitting (such as off-site construction, modular building systems, smart meters, big data analysis, sensors, and predictive maintenance).
  • Use environmentally sustainable practices, such as nature-based solutions or carbon-storing materials to reduce energy consumption, carbon footprint, pollution, and resource use throughout the building's life cycle while also possibly increasing buildings’ resilience and adaptability to natural, including climate change-induced, and human-made hazards.
  • Ensure that social and affordable housing is aesthetically pleasing and contributes positively to the landscape of the place where it is located, while also respecting local context and the architectural heritage.
  • Improve the well-being, inclusion and general living conditions of all inhabitants.
  • For renovations or retrofitting only: minimise and mitigate, where possible, disruptions for residents and improve accessibility of buildings.

Social care homes, elderly houses, and other forms of inclusive housing with residential function complemented with social welfare are also considered as eligible for development and testing of cross-cutting innovative solutions developed by the projects.

To achieve this, project consortia may provide financial support to SMEs and social housing actors in the form of Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP). The amount to be granted to each third party may be a maximum of EUR 60 000.

Proposals are expected to follow a participatory and transdisciplinary approach through the integration of different actors (such as public authorities, local actors from the targeted neighbourhoods, civil society, private owners, etc.) and disciplines (such as architecture or design, arts, (civil) engineering, health, etc.).

This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

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‍Eligibility

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be established in one of the following countries:

• the Member States of the European Union, including their outermost regions;
• the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States;
• countries associated to Horizon Europe;
• low- and middle-income countries.

See specifics in the General Annexes document, page 9.

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Consortium composition

Only legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes, as beneficiaries, three legal entities independent from each other and each established in a different country as follows:

• at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State; and
• at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.

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Budget

The total indicative budget for the topic is EUR 16.00 million.

Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60 000.