Innovative approaches for sustainable, inclusive and beautiful social and affordable housing

The grant opportunity under the Horizon Europe Programme, titled "Innovative approaches for sustainable, inclusive and beautiful social and affordable housing," focuses on transformative projects aimed at enhancing social and affordable housing through principles of sustainability and inclusion as part of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative. The funding structure is a grant type, specifically categorized under HORIZON Innovation Actions, with an overall budget allocation of €118.4 million for 2025, with individual project funding typically ranging between €1 million to €5 million.

Eligible applicant types include startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), research institutes, universities, public-private partnerships, non-governmental organizations, and local authorities. The projects must be collaborative and include consortia consisting of partners from at least three different EU member states or associated countries. The geographic eligibility encompasses EU member states and associated countries, targeting areas where projects can enhance urban neighborhoods.

The initiative emphasizes sectors like construction, environmental sustainability, energy efficiency, and social inclusion, seeking innovative solutions that integrate technology with community needs. Projects should be at the demonstration stage, particularly focusing on applying existing technologies to validate and showcase new building solutions.

The application process is a single-stage open call with a deadline set for November 12, 2025. There is a likely co-funding requirement, which is common in Horizon Europe grants, but specifics were not explicitly stated. Success rates for similar opportunities within Horizon Europe generally range from 10% to 39%.

Overall, this grant aims to promote innovative and aesthetically pleasing housing solutions to improve living conditions for diverse and vulnerable populations, while also contributing to the EU's climate resilience and sustainability goals. Proposals are encouraged to adopt a participatory approach and integrate various disciplines to ensure comprehensive solutions in addressing the challenges of affordable housing.

The EU Funding and Tenders Portal presents a call for proposals under the Horizon Europe Programme, specifically targeting "A research agenda for a beautiful, inclusive and sustainable transformation of neighbourhoods" (HORIZON-NEB-2025-01). The call encompasses various topics related to the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative, focusing on business innovation, citizen participation, and urban regeneration. The general objective is to foster innovative approaches for sustainable, inclusive, and aesthetically pleasing social and affordable housing.

The call is structured around several specific topics, each with its own budget, type of action (Innovation Actions, Research and Innovation Actions, or Coordination and Support Actions), and expected number of grants. All topics share a common opening date of 6 May 2025 and a deadline of 12 November 2025, 17:00:00 Brussels time, and operate on a single-stage submission model.

The topics and their corresponding details are:

HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-BUSINESS-01: This topic is a HORIZON Innovation Action (IA) with a budget of 12,000,000 EUR. It aims to foster business innovation within the NEB framework. The indicative number of grants is 2, with an average contribution of around 6,000,000 EUR per project.

HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-BUSINESS-02: This is another HORIZON IA topic with a budget of 12,000,000 EUR, focusing on business-related innovation. The indicative number of grants is 3, with an average contribution of around 4,000,000 EUR per project.

HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-BUSINESS-03: This topic is a HORIZON Research and Innovation Action (RIA) with a budget of 12,000,000 EUR, emphasizing research-driven innovation in the business sector. The indicative number of grants is 3, with an average contribution of around 4,000,000 EUR per project.

HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-PARTICIPATION-01: This topic is a HORIZON RIA with a budget of 10,500,000 EUR, focusing on citizen participation in the NEB initiative. The indicative number of grants is 3, with an average contribution of around 3,500,000 EUR per project.

HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-PARTICIPATION-02: This is another HORIZON RIA topic with a budget of 9,000,000 EUR, emphasizing research related to citizen participation. The indicative number of grants is 3, with an average contribution of around 3,000,000 EUR per project.

HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-PARTICIPATION-03: This topic is a HORIZON IA with a budget of 10,400,000 EUR, focusing on innovation actions related to citizen participation. The indicative number of grants is 2, with an average contribution of around 5,200,000 EUR per project.

HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-PARTICIPATION-04: This topic is a HORIZON Coordination and Support Action (CSA) with a budget of 2,500,000 EUR, aiming to coordinate and support activities related to citizen participation. The indicative number of grants is 1, with a contribution of around 2,500,000 EUR.

HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-REGEN-01: This topic is a HORIZON IA with a budget of 16,000,000 EUR, focusing on urban regeneration within the NEB framework. The indicative number of grants is 2, with an average contribution of around 8,000,000 EUR per project.

HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-REGEN-02: This topic is a HORIZON RIA with a budget of 10,000,000 EUR, emphasizing research and innovation in urban regeneration. The indicative number of grants is 2, with an average contribution of around 5,000,000 EUR per project.

HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-REGEN-03: This is another HORIZON RIA topic with a budget of 8,000,000 EUR, focusing on research-driven urban regeneration. The indicative number of grants is 2, with an average contribution of around 4,000,000 EUR per project.

HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-REGEN-04: This topic is a HORIZON IA with a budget of 16,000,000 EUR, focusing on innovation actions for urban regeneration. The indicative number of grants is 2, with an average contribution of around 8,000,000 EUR per project.

The expected outcomes of the projects funded under this call include: reduced costs for construction and renovation of social and affordable housing without compromising quality; increased availability and affordability of quality housing for diverse and vulnerable populations; significantly reduced energy consumption, carbon emissions, and resource use in social and affordable housing; improved climate adaptability and resilience; and higher awareness of innovative approaches in the construction and real estate sectors.

The scope of the call emphasizes the need for innovative approaches that leverage new building technologies and construction methods to improve climate adaptability, reduce energy consumption and emissions, and deliver affordable and inclusive housing. Proposals should address innovative approaches for construction and renovation services, define and implement ambitious packages of measures using existing building technologies, and ensure environmentally sustainable practices. Social care homes, elderly houses, and inclusive housing are also considered eligible.

Project consortia may provide financial support to SMEs and social housing actors, with a maximum of EUR 60,000 to be granted to each third party. Proposals are expected to follow a participatory and transdisciplinary approach, integrating various actors and disciplines. The effective contribution of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) disciplines is required, and proposals should dedicate at least 0.2% of their total budget to share results with the Coordination and Support Action 'New European Bauhaus hub for results and impact' (HORIZON-MISS-2024-NEB-01-03).

General conditions for participation include admissibility conditions related to proposal page limits and layout, eligible countries, and financial and operational capacity. Evaluation and award processes are detailed in the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. Legal and financial aspects of the grants are also outlined, including the possibility of providing financial support to third parties.

Application forms, evaluation templates, and model grant agreements are available in the Submission System. Additional documents such as the Horizon Europe Programme Guide, the New European Bauhaus Facility (NEB) work programme, and relevant EU regulations are also provided for reference.

The EU Funding & Tenders Portal offers various support services, including an Online Manual, FAQs, a Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points, the Enterprise Europe Network, an IT Helpdesk, and helpdesks for intellectual property rights and standardisation. Partner search tools are also available to help applicants find suitable partners for their proposals.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call aims to drive innovation and sustainability in social and affordable housing through the New European Bauhaus initiative. It seeks to address challenges related to high construction costs, energy efficiency, climate resilience, and social inclusion by funding projects that develop and implement innovative building technologies and construction methods. The call encourages a participatory and transdisciplinary approach, involving diverse stakeholders and integrating SSH expertise to achieve meaningful societal impact. The call provides funding opportunities through various action types, including Innovation Actions, Research and Innovation Actions, and Coordination and Support Actions, each with specific objectives and budget allocations.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated, but based on the context, they likely include SMEs, social housing actors, public authorities, local actors from targeted neighborhoods, civil society organizations, private owners, research institutions, universities, architecture firms, design firms, engineering firms, and health organizations. The call emphasizes the need for a transdisciplinary approach, suggesting a wide range of entities can participate.

Funding Type: The primary financial mechanism is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Action Grant Budget-Based [HORIZON-AG]. The call also mentions Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) in the form of grants, with a maximum of EUR 60,000 per third party.

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity requires a consortium of multiple applicants. The call emphasizes the need for a participatory and transdisciplinary approach, requiring the integration of different actors and disciplines.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU member states and associated countries participating in the Horizon Europe program. The call mentions that non-EU/non-Associated Countries may have specific provisions for funding their participants, as detailed in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Target Sector: The program targets the following sectors: construction, energy, environment, social and affordable housing, architecture, design, engineering, health, climate, innovation, and research. It focuses on sustainable building technologies and construction methods, climate adaptability and resilience, energy efficiency, carbon emissions reduction, and resource use in social and affordable housing.

Mentioned Countries: The opportunity does not explicitly mention specific countries but refers to EU member states and associated countries participating in the Horizon Europe program, as well as non-EU/non-Associated Countries with specific funding provisions.

Project Stage: The expected maturity of the project is at the innovation and demonstration stage. The call aims to implement ambitious packages of measures using building technologies and construction methods already on the market, suggesting a focus on validation and demonstration rather than basic research.

Funding Amount: The funding range varies depending on the specific topic within the call, ranging from EUR 2,500,000 to EUR 16,000,000 per project. The indicative number of grants per topic also varies. For example, HORIZON-NEB-2025-01-REGEN-04 has a budget of EUR 16,000,000 and aims to award around 2 grants, implying an average grant size of EUR 8,000,000.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of grants. Additionally, there is a requirement to dedicate at least 0.2% of the total budget to share results with the Coordination and Support Action 'New European Bauhaus hub for results and impact'.

Application Stages: The application process consists of a single stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for each topic provides some insight. For instance, a topic with a budget of EUR 16,000,000 and an indicative number of 2 grants suggests a more competitive environment than a topic with a smaller budget and the same number of grants.

Co-funding Requirement: The information does not explicitly state whether co-funding is required.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, "A research agenda for a beautiful, inclusive and sustainable transformation of neighbourhoods (HORIZON-NEB-2025-01)", aims to promote innovative approaches for sustainable, inclusive, and high-quality social and affordable housing across Europe. It seeks to address the challenges posed by ambitious energy efficiency and carbon footprint standards by encouraging the adoption of new building technologies and construction methods. The call encourages project consortia to develop and implement innovative approaches in the construction and renovation of social and affordable housing, focusing on how services are defined, procured, delivered, financed, and managed. Projects should define and implement ambitious packages of measures using existing building technologies and construction methods, addressing efficiency, sustainability, aesthetic appeal, and the well-being of inhabitants. The call also emphasizes the importance of a participatory and transdisciplinary approach, integrating diverse actors and disciplines. Financial support to third parties, particularly SMEs and social housing actors, is permitted up to EUR 60,000 per third party. The call is structured around several topics, each with its own budget and indicative number of grants, ranging from Innovation Actions (IA) to Research and Innovation Actions (RIA) and Coordination and Support Actions (CSA). The submission deadline is November 12, 2025.