Page 16 - European Energy Innovation magazine - spring 2023 edition

Spring 2023 European Energy Innovation
16 RENOVATION WAVE

Social Safeguards: The Key to a

Successful Renovation Wave

By Marine Cornelis, Executive Director and Founder, Next Energy Consumer

he Renovation Wave aims inflation. In Slovakia or Croatia, the particularly affected by this trend,
to drive forward EU climate most vulnerable are often excluded displacing tenants and low-income
and social commitments by from renovation programs due to homeowners and contributing
Timproving energy efficiency eligibility criteria and documentation to housing insecurity and urban
and sustainability in homes whilst issues. Meanwhile, in Greece, a focus gentrification.
protecting the most vulnerable. on ownership rather than rental
Regrettably, in some areas, renovation properties leaves many people in Lack of financial incentives can also
policies are causing “renovictions”, rental accommodation ignored. result in renoviction. Property owners
as retrofits are used as a pretext to may not have enough financial
raise rents and evict tenants and low- In the absence of low-income incentives to undertake renovations
income homeowners. Implementing and tenant protection measures, without passing the costs on to
social safeguards is imperative to speculation and financialisation of the tenants, including those in social
ensure the Renovation Wave benefits housing sector are leading to social housing (as seen in Lodz, Poland).
the most disadvantaged and energy- exclusion, as seen in the sharp rise Low-income owner-occupiers are
poor. How can EU and national in homelessness in Ireland in 2022. also vulnerable to the harmful
policymakers make this happen? Without sufficient financial incentives, effects of poor renovation policies. In
property owners may not undertake some cases, they may be forced to
The European Renovation Drive: renovations without passing the costs undertake costly renovations to meet
Addressing Energy Poverty and onto tenants, leading to “renoviction” new energy efficiency standards,
Social Exclusion and displacement of low-income leading to over-indebtedness. Others
With buildings in Europe accounting homeowners and tenants. Other may be forced to sell their homes
for a staggering 40% of energy cities with high real estate demand, due to the costs associated with
consumption and 36% of CO such as Paris, are particularly affected renovating multi-apartment buildings
2
emissions, it is no surprise that the by this trend, such as Paris, are (as seen in Estonia).
European Renovation Wave is being
hailed as a crucial step forward.
However, as the energy price crisis
has only exacerbated the already
dire situation of energy poverty, a
condition closely linked to poor
quality housing, affecting more than
34 million European households,
collective efforts must go towards
improving the energy efficiency of
buildings and prioritising the needs of
the most vulnerable.
Ineffective Policies and Renoviction
Risks
While well-intentioned, many current
policies and programs tackling
housing renovation have proven
costly, discriminatory and ineffective.
For instance, in Germany, Italy
and Bulgaria, untargeted financial
incentives have led to delays and

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