Exploring and improving access to housing in rural areas and developing the houses and villages of the future

Expected Outcome:

The successful proposal will support the implementation of the long-term vision for EU’s rural areas, and of the European pillar of social rights and its action plan, as well as to social fairness. Moreover, the successful proposal will contribute to empowering rural communities for transformative change, enabling them to become sustainable and resilient, in line with the Green Deal objectives and the Commission’s priority to support people, strengthen our societies and our social model.

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• policymakers have better understanding of the real estate and rental markets (including short-term and long-term rentals) in rural areas as well as their social impacts on rural communities;
• new solutions and strategies that improve access to affordable, quality housing and social housing for rural communities are available and widely shared among relevant stakeholders;
• affordable, sustainable and replicable solutions for sustainable, greenhouse gases nearly non-emitting, climate-resilient and climate smart houses and villages of the future are in place to benefit rural communities.

Scope:

At European level, there is a lack of research on the rural real estate issues and different rural areas are affected differently by demographic trends and migration flows. Covid 19, and the new teleworking possibilities also strongly impacted the real estate market in rural areas. Some rural areas are experiencing gentrification processes, others are faced with seasonal touristic flows, while others are affected by depopulation. Affordable and adequate housing, as well as adequate access to services and infrastructure, are not only an essential part of quality of life, but they are also a prerequisite to ensure the attractiveness of a place and therefore the accessibility of labour workforce for strategic sectors for the rural economy.

Proposals should address all of the following:

• analyse the real estate and rental markets (including short-term and long-term rentals) in rural areas and evaluate housing quality and housing poverty; the analysis should include an evaluation of the demand and supply side and an identification of the stakeholders;
• contribute to increase data availability, making use also of digital technologies, in relation to type of settlement structures and buildings and include and in-depth analysis of the abandoned or in state of collapse units, showcasing best practise to recover and reuse buildings when socially, economically and environmentally sustainable;
• increase the understanding of the access to affordable, quality housing and social housing in rural areas considering also financial aspects such as access to finance and price affordability, as well as social aspects such as gender, age, ethnicity, or disability;
• provide recommendations to policy makers on how to regulate the real estate and rental markets and to promote sustainable, nearly-zero emitting housing renovation or construction where needed to benefit rural communities, including people in a vulnerable situation, and ensure affordable and accessible housing;
• run participatory processes involving rural stakeholders to design sustainable houses and villages of the future, paying particular attention to affordability and replicability of innovative solutions (including intergenerational, multiuse, and reuse approaches) as well as to the adaptation to and mitigation of climate change. Solutions should include innovations in terms of improved renovations, insulation, energy and water efficiency and use and reuse of local materials, circularity of materials, as well as of reducing pollution (including air pollution) and soil sealing in rural areas.

Proposals must use the multi-actor approach and involve relevant actors in particular to develop houses and villages of the future.

Proposals should build on research done by the EU rural observatory, and by relevant projects funded under Horizon Europe.

Collaboration and complementarity with the New European Bauhaus (NEB) Facility is encouraged.

This topic must involve the effective contribution of social sciences and humanities (SSH), including gender studies. Proposals are encouraged to consider, where relevant, the services offered by European research infrastructures such as the European social survey (ESS ERIC).