EIB supports affordable housing in Poland

Szczecin has become the second Polish town to receive a loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance a municipal development plan for social and affordable housing. The EIB has agreed to lend up to PLN 85 million (approx. €20 million) to two housing companies owned by the City of Szczecin for the construction and renovation of 250 social and affordable housing units (169 new and 81 renovated) and associated underground parking facilities.

Thanks to the development of more energy-efficient dwellings, the project will generate savings of over 3 200 GJ per year, which will lead to a substantial reduction in Szczecin’s energy consumption and to lower emissions and energy bills. It will also enable the removal of on-street parking in the city centre and forms part of the larger urban regeneration programme of the historic part of the city.

Before Szczecin, the EIB had signed two loans in this sector with two municipal companies in Poznań. Such loans financed the construction and renovation of over 2 300 social and affordable housing units in the capital of the Wielkopolska Region.

For the first time in social and affordable housing projects financed by the EIB, a specific focus on green infrastructure has been included in the operation. Thus, a separate PLN 3.4 million loan (approx. €0.8 million) was signed with Szczecińskie Towarzystwo Budownictwa Społecznego (STBS) to finance the integration of green roofs, urban farming plots, rainwater collection systems, and other green elements. This loan thus falls under the Natural Capital Financing Facility (NCFF), an instrument managed by the EIB, supported by a guarantee under the LIFE Programme, for ecosystem-based investments for biodiversity and climate adaptation. This is the first NCFF project signed by the EU bank in Poland and it is the first time that the NCFF complements a social and affordable housing project in Europe. The EIB and the Stettin municipality stress the importance of the green elements in this operation in view of the recovery from the COVID pandemic.

Original source: EIB