Image: Istock
Bridging borders
How the European Federation for Living is shaping the future of social housing in the UK, Ireland and Europe
GROWTH, REGENERATION & DEVELOPMENT
Joost Nieuwenhuijzen
Executive Director, European Federation for Living
Joost Nieuwenhuijzen
Executive Director, European Federation for Living
Issue 80 | October 2025
In a Europe marked by housing shortages, energy cost pressures (energy poverty), and deepening inequality, the European Federation for Living (EFL) has emerged as a key actor in shaping responses to social housing challenges. With more than 70 members and associates across nearly 20 European countries and a combined housing stock of more than 1.3 million homes, EFL is more than a network – it’s a knowledge hub, a collaborator, and a catalyst for systemic change. Campbell Tickell is one of the main partners of EFL and a long-time member. Via Campbell Tickell, innovative approaches from elsewhere in Europe adopted via EFL’s network, find their way to the UK and Ireland.
What EFL offers
EFL is a network of housing associations, social housing providers, private firms, academic institutions, and experts. It pursues affordable, sustainable housing solutions by facilitating knowledge exchange, promoting innovation, and enabling joint projects. Key themes in its work include energy efficiency, tenant inclusion, sustainable construction, finance and investment models, and recently also urban regeneration. EFL is also engaged in the provision of recommendations to the new EU Commissioner for Housing to help shape the new Affordable Housing Plan (2026).
One of EFL’s core mechanisms is its topic groups – dedicated working groups where members share case studies, produce toolkits, hold site visits and webinars, co-create reports, engage in staff exchanges, and work together to apply learnings in practice. These groups spread innovation across Europe and help translate good ideas to different national contexts. The EFL Annual Conferences, high level gatherings of key stakeholders from across Europe, create an optimum of policy discussions and sharing the latest views on housing policy.
“Knowledge networks like EFL remain vital for maintaining links with EU best practice, keeping sight of innovation elsewhere, and strengthening UK organisations’ resilience.”
Relevance for the UK
For UK social housing providers, EFL offers access to an international bench-marking library. Standards, solutions for common challenges, retrofit pathways, financial tools, and inclusion practices developed in other European countries often provide ideas that are adaptable (or even ready to be adapted) to the UK. Post-Brexit, while some formal EU funding routes are less accessible, knowledge networks like EFL remain vital for maintaining links with EU best practice, keeping sight of innovation elsewhere, and strengthening UK organisations’ resilience.
The fact that the European funding scheme Horizon Europe is again open to UK organisations, means EFL is able to include UK universities and housing associations in innovation projects. Furthermore, tools, case study reports, and peer learning remain open channels for this kind of cross-border exchange. For the young housing professionals, EFL also manages the EFL Early Career Network. Clarion Housing chairs this group.
The UK’s housing associations benefit not only from seeing what works elsewhere, but also from being part of discussions that shape future European policy (which still can affect the UK indirectly).
Ireland, Cost Rental, and EFS's influence
Ireland’s social housing landscape has undergone a significant development with the introduction of Cost Rental housing under the Affordable Housing Act of 2021. Cost Rental is a non-market rental tenure intended for households above the social housing income thresholds but excluded from private rental affordability. Rents cover the costs of development, financing, property management, maintenance etc., over long periods (40 years in many cases), and must be set at least 25% below comparable market rents.
This model was inspired by, and draws learning from, other European countries where Cost Rental (or similar ‘cost-based social rent’) has long been used. The reports from Ireland’s Housing Agency (a member of EFL) and Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs), explicitly reference European case studies as sources of inspiration when designing Ireland’s Cost Rental system.
For example:
- Ireland has looked at cost-based social rental models in Austria, Denmark and Finland to understand how rent-setting, security of tenure, operational cost-management, and financing work in established systems.
- The Housing Agency and researchers have studied how these models manage affordability, tenant security, long-term maintenance, governance, and scalability. These findings help Ireland avoid pitfalls and adopt policies that promote sustainability and social wellbeing.
Early results in Ireland show the Cost Rental sector has had positive outcomes for renters: greater security of tenure (many tenants feel Cost Rental homes are ‘forever homes’), improved affordability for moderate income households, and stronger resident wellbeing. But challenges remain, especially around rents relative to incomes, cost inflation, and clarity of rent increases.
EFL plays a role in all of this for AHBs: members like Clúid Housing publicly acknowledge that EFL gives them access to European counterparts for ‘exchange of best practice in social and affordable housing’.
So, for Ireland, EFL’s value lies in:
- helping bring experiences from established Cost Rental and cost-based rent countries into policy design and implementation
- providing peer learning (via topic groups, case studies, reports) so that AHBs and state agencies can compare how best to set rents, design tenancy terms, engage tenants, and maintain quality
- offering access to EU-funded projects or partnerships where Irish bodies can participate, helping to build capacity
Major tangible outputs from EFL
Some key successes across Europe (and relevant to UK & Ireland) include:
- toolkits and guides for retrofit and energy renovation that balance technical innovation with social inclusion
- toolkits and guidelines for measurement of Social Impact, supported by Italian and Dutch members
- case studies and reports on cost-based rent systems from Northern European countries used as benchmarks in Ireland’s Cost Rental policymaking
- benchmarking tools for energy efficiency and sustainability in affordable housing
- events, study visits, webinars and newsletters which highlight cross-national comparisons, helping the transfer of policy tools
The importance of cooperation
Even after Brexit, housing issues like affordability, energy, inclusivity, demographics, climate adaptation don’t respect national borders.
Many UK challenges mirror those in Ireland or continental Europe. EFL offers shared learning, which is often quicker and more cost-effective than reinventing solutions locally.
Cooperation also helps in building political momentum: when housing providers and academics across countries produce comparable evidence, they can influence EU, national, regional policy more strongly (like the Affordable Housing Plan).
For the UK, even if direct access to some EU funding is reduced, being part of a pan-European discussion helps with innovation, reputational advantage, and alignment with green, sustainable housing agendas.
Network for change
EFL is more than a cross-border professional association – it is a network for change. For the UK and Ireland especially, its significance lies in helping shape housing policies grounded in successful precedents, facilitating innovation, and underpinning social housing with evidence from a wider European context.
Ireland’s Cost Rental ‘project’ shows how knowledge transfer and peer engagement are helping to build something new, socially meaningful and sustainable. For social housing providers and policymakers in the UK, paying attention to EFL is really important and increasingly essential if the sector is to meet 21-century challenges.
“Paying attention to EFL is really important and increasingly essential if the sector is to meet 21-century challenges.”
