Amid significant developments in EU housing policy, Brussels was the ideal setting for Eurhonet’s Leadership Summit 2025, held in collaboration with Housing Europe. We welcomed leaders from public and social housing organisations across Europe for discussion, learning, and collaboration.
Our annual Summit is a crucial moment to look ahead – to anticipate future challenges, share strategies for strengthening our organisations, and deepen cross-border cooperation. This year, we focused on the evolving EU policy landscape and reflected on how this will impact our work as practitioners.
Keynote on EU housing policy updates
Sorcha Edwards, Secretary General of Housing Europe, delivered an excellent keynote on EU policy updates. Housing Europe is our sector’s representative body at EU and international levels and the reference point for housing policy expertise.
Edwards discussed the recent appointment of Dan Jørgensen as the first-ever European Commissioner for Energy and Housing. We also gained insights into the work of the European Commission’s new Task Force on Housing and the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the Housing Crisis.
Edwards underlined the structural nature of Europe’s housing problem, with affordability, overcrowding, homelessness, poor quality housing and the costs of living crisis being some of the key concerns. She shared concrete examples of the benefits of substantial investment in affordable housing and best practices delivering results across Europe. In addition, Edwards stressed the importance of listening to stakeholders on the ground.
A video message from MEP Irene Tinagli, Chair of the European Parliament Special Committee on the Housing Crisis in the European Union, echoed this message, highlighting the need for strong collaboration among all stakeholders.
Collaborating with city stakeholders
With this new European framework in place, public and social housing providers must seize the opportunity to shape what comes next. The key theme of the panel moderated by Özgür Öner from GdW was ‘strengthening cooperation with cities authorities.’
Stefan Moser from DG ENER’s Task Force on Housing (European Commission) reminded us that effective policymaking must consider the full picture. Local and regional assessments are essential to ensure policies are grounded in real needs and capabilities, and housing providers are indispensable partners for municipalities.
A common thread across discussions was the importance of centering the needs and wishes of tenants. Anna Iafisco from Eurocities highlighted the Orcasitas project in Madrid, where more than 100 buildings were renovated with resident input, achieving CO2 cuts of 58–70% through a ground-up approach.
Emiliano Rocchetti from the International Union of Tenants stressed the importance of tenant-centred decision-making and shared best practices including the Stockholmhusen project in Stockholm, Sweden. Meanwhile, Martina De Sole from ENoLL explained how Living Labs – real-life innovation ecosystems – can drive adoption of new approaches by putting citizens at the centre and embracing change based on feedback.
Mélanie Bourgeois from Energy Cities introduced the concept of sufficiency: making better use of existing resources, building for the long term and within the urban building fabric, and exploring diverse housing models such as co-housing and home-swapping.
As challenges and solutions vary across Member States, Tatiana Marquez Uriarte from the European Commission stressed the need to tailor housing policies at both national and city levels. Earlier in the morning, Jean-François Hoffelt from Social Housing Brussels outlined Belgium’s social housing landscape, highlighting key challenges such as increasing supply, reducing vacancy, tackling homelessness and housing discrimination, and speeding up urban planning procedures.
Setting our shared priorities
These in-depth discussions were a great basis for our workshop on day two, moderated by Amy Labarriere Cook. Together, we identified our sector’s top priorities and explored how to build resilient, future-proof organisations. It is crucial that Eurhonet’s work reflects the real needs of our members, and this workshop will play a key role in shaping Eurhonet’s next three-year work plan.
The Summit concluded with a visit to the European Parliament, allowing us to reflect further on how decisions are made on an EU level and the impact on our work as practitioners.
