Being a fundamental right, our homes should be treated the same way in national accounts as energy or transport infrastructure. While we often think of the social benefits of housing affordability, there are also a handful of economic reasons to reform or improve housing finance.

Building more social housing, for example, counterbalances house price inflation. Grants, loans, adapted interest rates that support the construction or renovation of homes might appear as costly solutions, but solid evidence shows that it is still a much better option for governments than subsidising rents or mortgages for private housing in the long run.

You are with ‘Making a house a home’ - the podcast of the European federation of public, cooperative and social housing providers, Housing Europe. The show hosts a series of episodes of the Housing 2030 initiative led by UNECE, UN-Habitat and Housing Europe. If we have not yet met digitally, I am Diana Yordanova.

This is the 10th Housing 2030 podcast and the first episode in which we will dive into funding and financing instruments that succeed to deliver more affordable, decent housing. On the other end of the line is Professor Michelle Norris whose teaching and research interests focus on housing policy and urban regeneration, particularly on the management and financing of social housing. Since 2017, she has the been chair of the Housing Finance Agency which supports social housing in Ireland.

It has now become a tradition to open up these small conversations to a bigger audience and this episode will make no exception. Join the fourth and final Housing 2030 thematic conference titled ‘Shaping investment pathways to deliver affordable housing’. It is happening on 14th April and you can still reserve your digital seat at www.housingeurope.eu or www.housing2030.org.