Establishment of an investment platform for social and affordable housing in Poland

Description

Context

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK), the Polish development bank, have signed an agreement to set up an investment platform supporting social and affordable housing projects in different municipalities across Poland. Contributing to social inclusion, this platform, backed by the Juncker Commission’s Investment Plan for Europe, will roll out a programme in an area where much investment is needed.

The agreement of May 2017 is intended to support social and affordable housing investments for a total cost of some PLN 2.1bn (around EUR 496m) until 2021. The projects to be financed under the investment platform concern the construction (more than 100 000 housing units) or retrofitting of social and/or affordable housing units for rental, as well as the construction of regulated affordable rent-to-buy housing.

In addition, the construction of any associated infrastructure such as roads, drainage, utilities and recreational amenities specifically designed to meet the needs of the housing units of the relevant investment will also benefit from this financing. The municipal authorities and registered social and affordable housing providers, such as non-profit housing enterprises (TBS), will be the eligible beneficiaries of this investment platform.

Issues tackled

Poland needs significant investment in social and affordable housing in the coming years and the availability of public funding and public programmes in this area is limited. The platform will help the municipalities with the revitalisation of urban areas and efficient urban development. Equally important is that this joint initiative will reduce social exclusion by making housing more accessible. The Investment Plan for Europe also means investing more in social infrastructure and supporting the solidarity economy.

Actors involved

• Non-profit housing enterprises (TBS)
• European Investment Bank
• Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK)

Results

Cooperating with BGK for this joint financial product will enable the EIB to finance investments from smaller promoters. Both institutions will carry out joint due diligence and appraisal of the projects, and may also undertake joint market surveys and marketing actions.

Why it works

This cooperation is based on three main pillars.

• The first pillar – the National Programme for Support of Social Housing – already exists, and receives EIB support in the form of partial funding for projects totalling PLN 800m (around EUR 190m). Complementary lending aimed at the largest projects is to be provided through individual loans for an amount up to a total of PLN 400m (around EUR 95m) from the EIB. These individual loans will be covered by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), a central element of the Investment Plan for Europe.
• BGK will complement EIB lending in many cases by using its own funds.
• Finally, the last pillar, also totalling PLN 400m, consists of intermediated loans – projects will be financed by BGK, partially or entirely based on EIB funding.

Scale

national

More information

EFSI financing: €95million out of the total €496 million