CHOICE: Community-Led Housing for Inclusion, Climate and Equity

2025-2027

Europe is facing a deep housing crisis driven by unaffordability, speculation, energy inefficiency and exclusion. While housing is recognised as a social right under the European Pillar of Social Rights, dominant policy responses remain largely market-driven, fragmented and disconnected from citizens’ lived realities.

Women, young people, migrants, single-parent households, people with disabilities and low-income communities are disproportionately affected, facing housing cost overburden, energy poverty, insecurity and displacement.

At the same time, across Europe, communities are already developing collective, non-speculative housing solutions. These initiatives remain marginal in policy debates despite their proven social, democratic and ecological value.

What is CHOICE?
CHOICE promotes Community-Led Housing (CLH) as a democratic, rights-based and climate-just response to the housing crisis.

Community-Led Housing includes:

• Housing cooperatives
• Community Land Trusts
• Cohousing and collective housing
• Ecovillages and other non-profit, community-governed models

These approaches share core principles:

• Long-term affordability and partial or full de-commodification
• Democratic governance and collective ownership or stewardship
• Social inclusion and mutual care
• Environmental sustainability and energy efficiency
• Strong community control over housing decisions

Partnering Organisations: Global Ecovillage Network of Europe (GEN Europe), ICLEI Europe, RIPESS Europe, MOBA Housing SCE, ISCTE Centre of International Studies, Universitaet Vechta, Commoning Spaces Network