Central themes
The Housing Finance Working Group brings together experts and researchers from across Europe and beyond to explore the latest trends, policies, and challenges in housing finance. With a focus on sharing knowledge and fostering collaboration, this group provides a dynamic platform for discussing new solutions to contemporary issues in housing affordability, accessibility, and financial stability.

Key topics of focus

• Regulatory frameworks: Analysing national and international regulations that impact housing markets and finance systems, and how they influence policy decisions.
• Innovative financing models: From sustainable mortgages to green bonds, explore new financial tools designed to make housing more affordable and environmentally sustainable.
• Affordability challenges: Addressing the growing divide between housing costs and household incomes and developing solutions to reduce the housing cost burden.
• Equity and accessibility: Understanding how financial systems can be adapted to support vulnerable groups, ensuring equitable access to housing for all.

At the core of the Housing Finance Working Group is a commitment to advancing knowledge in housing finance through interdisciplinary research and open dialogue. By connecting professionals from academia, the public sector, and industry, we aim to inform policy and create actionable insights that benefit communities globally.

Motives to join the working groups are:

• Collaborative research opportunities: Work alongside leading experts on innovative housing finance studies.
• Global networking: Connect with policymakers, practitioners, and fellow researchers from around the world.
• Workshops and seminars: Participate in engaging discussions that shape the future of housing finance.

Activities and output in recent years
In August 2024, a joint workshop with the working group “Private Rented Markets” was organised at the ENHR conference in Delft. The interdisciplinary exchange of ideas was inspiring and initiated opportunities for collaborative research.

In June 2023 the working group held a workshop at the ENHR conference in Lodz, in 2022 in Barcelona. At both conferences the topic of financialisation was addressed specifically. In addition, in 2023 members of the working group presented at a workshop of the European Mortgage Federation in Budapest on recent trends in European mortgage markets.

In January 2021 members of the working group organised a conference on Recent Trends in Rental Market Regulation. Twelve workshop participants presented their research and six papers were chosen to be published in a Special Issue of the International Journal of Housing Policy. Most of the papers that comprise the special issue speak to regulatory changes introduced over the last decade and current circumstances but some look more at principles, while one examines historical data over the last century.

In September 2019 we once again held a successful workshop at the ENHR International Conference held in Athens. There were four sessions with more than 10 papers and interesting discussions following the presentations. The Working Group will continue to make regular contributions to the debates on housing finance and regulation as well as on the impact of subsidy changes on the capacity to meet housing objectives.

On 30th September and 1st October 2019, the European Mortgage Federation hosted a joint EMF-ENHR Seminar in Brussels on Housing Finance. Over the course of two days, several researchers presented their papers. In the joint session with EMF major challenges in the field of housing finance were overviewed and special attention was given to issues such as variable interest loans, financing energy efficiency, funding affordable housing, buy-to-let loans and barriers to homeownership.

Future plans and activities
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Policy implications
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Other
The Working Group e-mail list includes over 100 members, many of whom actively contribute to seminars, conferences, and participate in monitoring activities.