An important part of a discussion relates to the case for public and private actors to invest in social housing. There is now strong evidence that a well financed and managed social housing sector has a significant stabilising effect for the whole housing market. It is also a sector where contra-cyclical economic measures have the best chance to produce the expected outcomes. Finally, the financial turmoil has made clear that social housing is a low-risk investment sector, susceptible to attract private funding, not least because our non-for-profit organizations have developed a unique culture of efficiency at the service of the community.

In a context of wide-spread collapse of financial institutions, large-scale state aid to private banks and high unemployment in many European countries, important questions arise regarding the sustainability of funding for social and affordable housing. Realizing the need to think openly and creatively about this issue, CECODHAS (Comité Européen de Coordination de l’Habitat Social or European Liaison Committee for Social Housing) organised in September 2009 a seminar entitled “Financing social housing after the crisis”, which brought together practitioners and analysts from across Europe. The aim was to take stock of recent trends and innovative practices in this field, as well as to think about future possibilities for the financial sustainability of the sector. This publication brings together the presentations held at the abovementioned seminar in the form of short articles. We believe this is a timely contribution containing a unique collection of perspectives representing a variety of housing systems and professional backgrounds.