HouseEurope!

HouseEurope! was started to reverse the current waste of resources, energy, and social value caused by demolition-and-rebuild practices in Europe. Every year, millions of square meters of usable buildings are lost, even though renovation is often more sustainable, more affordable, and of greater social value. The initiative aims to end this practice by prioritizing renovation in policy. By collecting 1 million signatures for a European Citizens’ Initiative to enforce EU regulations, it calls on citizens, designers, policymakers, and politicians to stop treating demolition as unavoidable and to recognize and make use of the value of existing structures.

https://www.houseeurope.eu/ ▶

Credits

International collaboration led by HouseEurope! (s+, bplus.xyz, ETH Zürich), with the Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR), ACAN NL, and the Academy of Architecture Amsterdam as formal partners in the Netherlands, supplemented by other European architecture and research institutions.

HouseEurope! is supported by the participating institutions and partners and operates under the European Union’s European Citizens’ Initiative framework. It is funded by civil society actors, educational institutions, and philanthropic support.

The IABR provides substantive support, raises awareness, links social and spatial impact to the EU campaign, and promotes renovation as standard practice in construction. Together with partners, the IABR organizes public programs that give the movement visibility and urgency.

Background information of HouseEurope!

HouseEurope! is a European Citizens’ Initiative that advocates the ‘Right to Reuse’. The campaign seeks to establish renovation as the new norm through concrete policy proposals, including tax incentives for renovation, fair assessment criteria for buildings, lifecycle analyses as standard practice, and substantial subsidies for reuse. In doing so, the initiative goes beyond architectural issues alone to address social justice, affordable housing, a circular construction sector, and the preservation of cultural heritage.

How does HouseEurope! tackle this?

HouseEurope! employs a combination of strategies: an official European Citizens’ Initiative (requiring the collection of 1 million signatures), an extensive network of partners from architecture, urban design, academia, and civil society organizations, and public campaigns through debates, films, exhibitions, and media. This mix of political lobbying and social mobilization ensures the involvement of both policymakers in Brussels and citizens and local actors across Europe.

“Every minute, a building in Europe is destroyed … We want to stop this destruction and make renovation the new norm.” – HouseEurope!

What does HouseEurope! hope to achieve?

A fundamental shift in EU policy, replacing demolition with renovation; the preservation of housing, jobs, and local economies; a reduction in CO₂ emissions; and the safeguarding of heritage and social cohesion in existing neighborhoods. The goal is to legally establish renovation as the norm across Europe.

When can you expect to see results of HouseEurope!?

The first results are already visible in public debates, media campaigns and events, such as the collaboration with the Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR), ACAN NL, and the Academy of Architecture Amsterdam. At the same time, HouseEurope! is working toward a concrete political objective: to collect at least 1 million European signatures by 31 January 2026 in order to legally anchor renovation as the new norm.