Action plan 2021-2027 tracker: housing

The 2021-2027 Action plan on integration and inclusion's goals in the area of housing include:

migrants and EU citizens with a migrant background have access to adequate and affordable housing, including social housing
EU countries and local and regional authorities have access to a wide range of tools and good practices to fight discrimination on the housing market
innovative housing solutions foster inclusion and fight segregation are widely used across the EU

Explore all actions in this integration area below.

1. Fund housing in the EU27

Action	Work with the EU countries to promote non-segregated, adequate and affordable housing and accompanying integration services via the EU funds
Status	Continuous
Type	Funding Tool
Implementation	This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes: The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) provisions for migrants’ integration through programmes and social services that support access to housing. The Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) supports early access to housing and emergency accommodation. Its 2023-2025 Thematic Facility dedicated €8 million to integration measures, including housing. In 2020-2024, AMIF’s Union Action focused on financial instruments to cover housing – see for example the project IncludEU. Under the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) 2024 Flagship Technical Support Project, the EC helps EU countries to enhance their reception and accommodation capacity. An example is the 2023 project Implementation of Housing Reform in Czechia and Poland aims to improve housing affordability. Other EU instruments can also be used to support migrant housing. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) can finance the refurbishing, building, and purchasing of social housing. InvestEU can be used to address the lack of affordable housing with €250 million for affordable social housing, skills, and social enterprises under agreement with the Council of Europe Development Bank expected in July 2023. Horizon Europe can also provide local and regional policymakers with guidance to support the development of affordable, inclusive and energy-efficient housing. In 2024 the EC published the toolkit Social housing and beyond on EU funding for social housing and associated services. It overviews all housing-related funding opportunities available at EU level and adds 20 concrete case studies.

Status

Continuous

Type

Funding
Tool

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes:

The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) provisions for migrants’ integration through programmes and social services that support access to housing.
The Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) supports early access to housing and emergency accommodation. Its 2023-2025 Thematic Facility dedicated €8 million to integration measures, including housing. In 2020-2024, AMIF’s Union Action focused on financial instruments to cover housing – see for example the project IncludEU.
Under the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) 2024 Flagship Technical Support Project, the EC helps EU countries to enhance their reception and accommodation capacity. An example is the 2023 project Implementation of Housing Reform in Czechia and Poland aims to improve housing affordability.
Other EU instruments can also be used to support migrant housing. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) can finance the refurbishing, building, and purchasing of social housing. InvestEU can be used to address the lack of affordable housing with €250 million for affordable social housing, skills, and social enterprises under agreement with the Council of Europe Development Bank expected in July 2023. Horizon Europe can also provide local and regional policymakers with guidance to support the development of affordable, inclusive and energy-efficient housing.
In 2024 the EC published the toolkit Social housing and beyond on EU funding for social housing and associated services. It overviews all housing-related funding opportunities available at EU level and adds 20 concrete case studies.

2. Fighting discrimination

Action	Promote mutual learning among the EU countries, cities, villages and regions on fighting discrimination on the housing market and reducing residential segregation
Status	Continuous
Type	Partnership Policy
Implementation	This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes: A February 2023 European Integration Network (EIN) meeting in Stockholm, held together with the Swedish EU Presidency, addressed discrimination and residential segregation. In June 2022, a study visits of the Urban Agenda Partnership on Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees study visit allowed municipality representatives from Belgium and the Netherlands to see an independent housing shelter offering support to LGBTIQ+ people in Berlin. Representatives from Belgium and Germany saw similar solution run in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in September 2022. In March 2022, a mutual assistance programme organised a study visit for municipal authorities from Austria and Greece to see non-segregated housing solutions for vulnerable migrants, victims of labour and sexual exploitation, in Prato, Italy. Other initiatives not directly targeting migrants but relevant to the action include the June 2021 launch of the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness, as well as the implementation of the EU Anti-racism Action Plan 2020-2025.

Status

Continuous

Type

Partnership
Policy

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes:

A February 2023 European Integration Network (EIN) meeting in Stockholm, held together with the Swedish EU Presidency, addressed discrimination and residential segregation.
In June 2022, a study visits of the Urban Agenda Partnership on Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees study visit allowed municipality representatives from Belgium and the Netherlands to see an independent housing shelter offering support to LGBTIQ+ people in Berlin. Representatives from Belgium and Germany saw similar solution run in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in September 2022.
In March 2022, a mutual assistance programme organised a study visit for municipal authorities from Austria and Greece to see non-segregated housing solutions for vulnerable migrants, victims of labour and sexual exploitation, in Prato, Italy.
Other initiatives not directly targeting migrants but relevant to the action include the June 2021 launch of the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness, as well as the implementation of the EU Anti-racism Action Plan 2020-2025.

3. Autonomous and affordable housing

Action	Promote models of autonomous housing for asylum seekers, and especially for families, and scale up innovative models of affordable housing for beneficiaries of international protection
Status	Continuous
Type	Funding Project Publication
Implementation	This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes: The EC supports innovative forms of community engagement and encourages EU countries to use community sponsorship programmes: the 2023-2025 Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) Thematic Facility allocates €8 million to similar schemes. The Solidarity Platform in June 2024 focused on housing and access to autonomous housing solutions. EC published in April 2024 the analysis Migrants’ access to medium- and long-term housing in the EU: barriers, governance and good practices. The EC’s European Migration Network (EMN) published the January 2024 inform Access to autonomous housing in the context of international protection. The EC’s 2023 New European Bauhaus (NEB), which connects the European Green Deal to living spaces and experiences, launched an affordable housing initiative. The HELIOS Project in Greece, also funded by AMIF, supports beneficiaries of protection to find housing solutions and provides rental subsidies.

Status

Continuous

Type

Funding
Project
Publication

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes:

The EC supports innovative forms of community engagement and encourages EU countries to use community sponsorship programmes: the 2023-2025 Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) Thematic Facility allocates €8 million to similar schemes.
The Solidarity Platform in June 2024 focused on housing and access to autonomous housing solutions.
EC published in April 2024 the analysis Migrants’ access to medium- and long-term housing in the EU: barriers, governance and good practices.
The EC’s European Migration Network (EMN) published the January 2024 inform Access to autonomous housing in the context of international protection.
The EC’s 2023 New European Bauhaus (NEB), which connects the European Green Deal to living spaces and experiences, launched an affordable housing initiative.
The HELIOS Project in Greece, also funded by AMIF, supports beneficiaries of protection to find housing solutions and provides rental subsidies.

4. Supporting people displaced from Ukraine

Action	Further actions in support of beneficiaries of temporary protection displaced from Ukraine
Status	Complete
Type	Partnership
Implementation	In March 2023, the Urban Agenda Partnership on Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees held the session Building a Sense of Home: Towards Sustainable Housing for Displaced Ukrainians and Other Refugees. It focused also on issues of discrimination and segregation. This initiative also relates to the second action in this table which promotes mutual learning.