As a recent report by Fondation Abbé Pierre and FEANTSA showed, young people in Europe are increasingly at risk of housing exclusion. The lack of adequate and affordable housing undermines their chances of attending university far from home and grabbing job opportunities where they arise, particularly in large urban areas. For many young people, social housing is often out of reach because of long wait lists and allocation criteria that prioritise the most vulnerable households, given the lack of sufficiency of social and affordable homes. Igor Costarelli who is a research fellow at the University of Milan Bicocca and coordinator of the ENHR working group Housing and Young People, provides examples of how the social and affordable housing sector is addressing the issue.

The title of the strategy is a reference to the City’s Integrated Urban Development Strategy, entitled “At Home in Budapest”, which also stressed the need for extending the affordable housing sector. The Senior Advisor to the Mayor of Budapest on Housing and Social Policy, Bálint Misetics, and Housing Europe's Senior Policy Officer, Edit Lakatos explain what does the strategy stand for.

Embarking on an inspirational journey, the social services department of central Brussels (CPAS) has turned a former abandoned and decontaminated soap factory into a ‘village’ of 42 sustainable social housing studios and small houses.