Innovative approaches for sustainable, inclusive and beautiful social and affordable housing
HORIZON Innovation Actions
Basic Information
- Identifier
- HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-REGEN-04
- Programme
- A research agenda for a beautiful, inclusive and sustainable transformation of neighbourhoods
- Programme Period
- 2021 - 2027
- Status
- Closed (31094503)
- Opening Date
- May 6, 2025
- Deadline
- November 12, 2025
- Deadline Model
- single-stage
- Budget
- €12,000,000
- Min Grant Amount
- €6,000,000
- Max Grant Amount
- €6,000,000
- Expected Number of Grants
- 2
- Keywords
- HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-REGEN-04HORIZON-NEB-2025-01Architectural designBuilding designCircular economyEnergy efficient buildingsEnvironment, resources and sustainabilityNature-based solutionsRenovationResources efficiencySustainability, Research Infrastructures LandscapeWellbeing
Description
Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Reduced costs for both the construction and renovation of social and affordable housing[1] without sacrificing quality.
- Increased availability and affordability of quality housing for diverse and vulnerable populations across Europe.
- Significantly reduced energy consumption, carbon emissions, and resource use in social and affordable housing as well as improved climate adaptability and resilience to climate change of social and affordable housing.
- Higher awareness of the construction ecosystem[2] and the real estate sector of innovative approaches that increase affordability and sustainability of housing.
An increasing number of new building technologies and construction methods became available on the market in recent years that can make construction and renovation more sustainable139. Current policies and regulations set ambitious standards (e.g., in terms of energy efficiency and carbon footprint), which come with higher initial investment costs, making the provision of sustainable, high-quality social and affordable housing in many European neighbourhoods a challenge.
Innovative approaches are necessary to make the best use of available building technologies and construction methods to improve climate adaptability and resilience and reduce energy consumption, carbon emissions and resource use in social and affordable housing while delivering housing that is affordable, inclusive143 and improves well-being, in line with the European Commission’s Affordable Housing Initiative144.
Proposals are expected to address all of the following:
- Develop innovative approaches for the construction of new buildings and the renovation or retrofitting of existing buildings in the social and affordable housing sector. These innovative approaches must relate to how construction and renovation services are defined, procured, delivered, financed and/or managed.
- Define and implement in two social and affordable housing projects two ambitious packages of measures that comprise building technologies and construction methods already on the market. One package of measures must be applied to a new construction and the other to a building renovation or retrofitting. They will address all of the following:
- Use existing building technologies and construction methods that improve the efficiency and speed of construction and renovation or retrofitting (such as off-site construction, modular building systems, smart meters, big data analysis, sensors, and predictive maintenance).
- Use environmentally sustainable practices, such as nature-based solutions[2] or carbon-storing materials to reduce energy consumption, carbon footprint, pollution, and resource use throughout the building's life cycle while also possibly increasing buildings’ resilience and adaptability to natural, including climate change-induced, and human-made hazards.
- Ensure that social and affordable housing is aesthetically pleasing and contributes positively to the landscape of the place where it is located, while also respecting local context and the architectural heritage.
- Improve the well-being, inclusion and general living conditions of all inhabitants.
- For renovations or retrofitting only: minimise and mitigate, where possible, disruptions for residents and improve accessibility of buildings.
Social care homes, elderly houses, and other forms of inclusive housing with residential function complemented with social welfare are also considered as eligible for development and testing of cross-cutting innovative solutions developed by the projects.
To achieve this, project consortia may provide financial support to SMEs and social housing actors in the form of Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP). The amount to be granted to each third party may be a maximum of EUR 60 000.
Proposals are expected to follow a participatory and transdisciplinary approach[4] through the integration of different actors (such as public authorities, local actors from the targeted neighbourhoods, civil society, private owners, etc.) and disciplines (such as architecture or design, arts, (civil) engineering, health, etc.).
This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.
Proposals are expected to dedicate at least 0.2% of their total budget to share their intermediate and final results and findings with the Coordination and Support Action 'New European Bauhaus hub for results and impact' (HORIZON-MISS-2024-NEB-01-03).
[1] This topic also considers social care homes, elderly houses, and other form of inclusive housing with residential function complemented with social welfare as forms of social and affordable housing.
[2] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[3] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[4] See definition on NEB working principles in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP255.
Destination & Scope
The development of a circular and regenerative European construction ecosystem[1] is key to support the sustainable competitiveness of the sector, and to achieve our climate, environmental and social ambitions. This implies more sustainable materials but also better use and re-purposing of existing buildings. However, this cannot be achieved without ensuring that people understand, accept and support the necessary transformations.
Although considerable research efforts are underway on this matter, there remain significant gaps. Innovation spreads slowly in the construction ecosystem in the context of construction materials, methods and approaches. For instance, renovations are still not correctly targeted, too expensive, too slow, and often of insufficient quality, resulting in renovation rates that are too low; buildings are inefficiently used and undermine people’s well-being; a lack of awareness of sustainable[1], circular and innovative approaches amongst the different actors of the construction ecosystem; and a market that remains very attached to low costs in the short-term.
In Work Programme 2025, this Destination contributes to the following expected impacts set out in the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2025-2027:
- 2. Living and working in a health-promoting environment
- 15. Achieving global leadership in climate-neutral, circular and digitised industrial and digital value chains
- 28. Putting biodiversity on a path to recovery, and protecting and restoring ecosystems and their services
- 31. Sustainably developing rural, urban and coastal areas
The Destination aims to address certain gaps and make the construction ecosystem more sustainable, resilient, circular and regenerative, while also ensuring it is inclusive[1], accessible and contributes to the health and wellbeing of all living beings. The Destination aims to deliver on this objective by:
- Making buildings, building elements, construction materials and products more sustainable, adaptable, multi-purpose, durable and re-usable, increase their recycling rate and expand their lifespan, leading to a more circular construction ecosystem and a more efficient use of resources. This will contribute to limiting the extraction of new materials and waste generation in the construction ecosystem, thus strengthening the EU’s strategic autonomy and contributing to the European Green Deal’s objectives, the EU’s Zero-Pollution vision for 2050, the new Circular Economy Action Plan, and intergenerational justice. Concepts and solutions that serve the above-mentioned objectives such as, among others, sufficiency[1], regenerative design[1], nature-based solutions[1] or circular bio-fabricated materials[1] should be explored.
- Improving the climate adaptability[8] and resilience of private or public buildings and common spaces[1] through, for instance, regenerative designs and nature-based solutions that contribute to longevity, resource and energy efficiency, natural ecosystem restoration and overall climate resilience in the face of the environmental evolution.
- Collecting, processing and using data and making use of technologies such as Artificial intelligence (AI) in combination with Building Information Modelling (BIM) and digital fabrication to significantly reduce costs, optimise resource utilisation, and enhance efficiency of renovation and construction processes and make construction and renovation more sustainable, circular, regenerative, affordable and culturally sensitive.
- Ensuring that the solutions developed are user-centred and place-based, connect with local cultural identity, historical knowledge and cultural heritage, and answer the needs of and are accepted by people on the ground - including minorities, vulnerable and underrepresented groups -, strengthening the sense of belonging and societal resilience.
This Destination considers neighbourhoods[1] in urban, peri-urban or rural environments.
[1] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[2] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[3] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[4] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[5] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[6] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[7] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[8] See EU-level technical guidance on adapting buildings to climate change. Best practice guidance, March 2023 (https://build-up.ec.europa.eu/en/resources-and-tools/publications/best-practice-guidance-buildings-adaptability-climate-change) .
[9] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
[10] See definition in the Glossary section of the NEB part of the HE WP25.
Eligibility & Conditions
General conditions
1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout
2. Eligible Countries
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.
3. Other Eligible Conditions
described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes.
4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion
described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5a. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds
are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes.
5b. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes
are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual.
5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement
described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes.
6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants
Beneficiaries may provide financial support to third parties. The support to third parties can only be provided in the form of grants. The maximum amount to be granted to each third party is EUR 60 000.
described in Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes.
Specific conditions
described in the [specific topic of the Work Programme]
Application and evaluation forms and model grant agreement (MGA):
Application form templates — the application form specific to this call is available in the Submission System
Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)
Evaluation form templates — will be used with the necessary adaptations
Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)
Guidance
Model Grant Agreements (MGA)
Call-specific instructions
Additional documents:
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 1. General Introduction
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 13. New European Bauhaus Facility (NEB)
HE Main Work Programme 2025 – 14. General Annexes
HE Framework Programme 2021/695
HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764
EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509
Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme
Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment
EU Grants AGA — Annotated Model Grant Agreement
Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual
Support & Resources
Online Manual is your guide on the procedures from proposal submission to managing your grant.
Horizon Europe Programme Guide contains the detailed guidance to the structure, budget and political priorities of Horizon Europe.
Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ – find the answers to most frequently asked questions on submission of proposals, evaluation and grant management.
Research Enquiry Service – ask questions about any aspect of European research in general and the EU Research Framework Programmes in particular.
National Contact Points (NCPs) – get guidance, practical information and assistance on participation in Horizon Europe. There are also NCPs in many non-EU and non-associated countries (‘third-countries’).
Enterprise Europe Network – contact your EEN national contact for advice to businesses with special focus on SMEs. The support includes guidance on the EU research funding.
IT Helpdesk – contact the Funding & Tenders Portal IT helpdesk for questions such as forgotten passwords, access rights and roles, technical aspects of submission of proposals, etc.
European IPR Helpdesk assists you on intellectual property issues.
CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk – the European Standards Organisations advise you how to tackle standardisation in your project proposal.
The European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment – consult the general principles and requirements specifying the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders of researchers.
Partner Search help you find a partner organisation for your proposal.