Endowed from its inception more than fifty years ago with an exclusively social mandate, the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) has dedicated € 16 billion, i.e. more than half of its total lending, to housing and associated infrastructure projects towards building sustainable communities in urban areas across Europe. This amount includes projects for housing and housing-related infrastructure (€ 10 billion) and also covers cross-sector operations with housing and urban components (€ 6 billion). The leverage effect of CEB financing is considerable and can be estimated at a factor of 2.5, given that the amounts approved by the CEB represent on average 40% of the total volume of the actual investments. It can be assumed that CEB loans of € 16 billion have mobilized at least € 40 billion of total investments.

The main purpose of CEB loans is to finance projects for the construction of housing, renovation or refurbishing of the existing housing stock, and for the conversion of buildings into housing so as to provide decent and affordable housing for low-income population groups. As discussed in the study, the CEB’s approach takes into consideration housing in its social, environmental, and economic dimensions.