The taskforce of the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing (Dan Jørgensen) visited Lille on July 16th to meet with regional planners and developers committed to shaping the future of affordable and sustainable housing in Europe .
During the visit, the Circular Building Convert (CBC) project was presented as a flagship local initiative offering innovative and replicable solutions to a key European challenge: transforming vacant office buildings into quality homes.
The CBC project tackles three major urban challenges in Lille and north-west Europe:
- A growing shortage of affordable housing ;
- The scarcity of building land, particularly in densely populated cities such as the European Metropolis of Lille ;
- A significant stock of vacant office space constructed between the 1970s and 1990s.
Rather than viewing these buildings as a liability, the CBC project sees them as an untapped strategic resource, aiming to convert them into energy-efficient, affordable housing using circulare conomy principles.
Through the CBC project, "we are working with our partners to demonstrate that circular conversion is not just a possibility, but a necessity. It offers a smart, land-efficient, and climate-conscious response to the urgent demand for affordable homes".
The Commissioner’s taskforce aims to gather knowledge, mobilise expertise and bring together key stakeholders to shape a European plan for affordable housing. The ambition: to unlock greater public and private investment in sustainable housing solutions across the continent.