Housing Projects

Conversation paper on the energy transition in Central and Eastern Europe (2018-2019)

2019-03-19

Client: University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership

Duration: October 2018-March 2019

The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group (convened by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership) contracted MRI as the leading party of a consortium to produce a conversation paper on the energy transition in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). This relatively short, business oriented document sought to highlight the main aspects of energy transition and called attention to the business opportunities it offers. The paper covered three interrelated topics: the transition in energy generation, the energy efficient interventions in the building stock and finally the transition trends in urban mobility. MRI cooperated with Energiaklub, Mobilissimus ltd as companies, and Ada Ámon from E3G as a private consultant to cover all aspects.

The paper emphasized both the similarities among the Central and Eastern European countries (11 new member states of the EU according to the interpretation of the study except for Malta and Cyprus) rooted in the socialist past, the relatively lower level of economic productivity and such factors as high homeownership rates, lower level of energy awareness, and high price sensitivity. It also showcased the growing differences, with a few front runner countries in building renovations and mobility solutions (e.g. Czech Republic), some with well advanced digital solutions (e.g. Estonia), and others suffering from particular difficulties, such as high level of pollution and the related coal mining problems (e.g. Poland).

The study demonstrated that the existing high potential of the region regarding renewables is far more than the currently exploited capacities. This gap is the result of political considerations (being reluctant to upset the status quo) and the high public investment needs. Furthermore, there is great potential in the energy efficiency renovation of the building stock, especially that the mass construction of industrialised buildings allows the development of standardised renovation solutions. Finally, while CEE countries are more used to environmental friendly mobility modes (public transport accounts for a considerable share of all journeys even today), the lower purchasing power can be a barrier to effective energy transition in the mobility sector, as it slows down the uptake rate of electric vehicles.

In spite of these difficulties, the CEE region has a high growth potential regarding the energy efficient investments. However the spread of a reliable and stable regulatory environment will be crucial in all CEE countries in order to allow businesses to operate and make use of the high market potential.

The full report is available at the The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group website.

Development of social support system in the housing and utilities sectors in Kazakhstan (2016-2018)

2018-02-21

Project duration: 21 November 2016 – 31 December 2018

Client: Government of Kazakhstan and EBRD TC Account Regarding The Programme of Technical Cooperation

The Government of Republic of Kazakhstan has been committed to a broad economic reform program. Part of this reform is improving the tariff policy by introducing cost recovery tariffs in the public utility sector. The aim of the project is to design social protection mechanisms in order to protect the population from excessive burden of coming tariff increases in utility sector. The project includes the identification of main deficiencies in the existing system of Social Support System (SSS) for low income population, preparing recommendations on legal, institutional and methodological changes of the SSS, preparing recommendation for selection of appropriate level of support on a country-wide level or by regions, assessing the need for integration of information systems of various state authorities, developing policies and procedures for implementation of a pilot project and assisting the administration of the pilot city in their implementation and the quality and quantity assessment of the results of the pilot city implementation.

Affordable Housing in Central and Eastern Europe: Identifying and Overcoming Constraints in New EU Member States (2016-2017)

2017-10-10

Project duration: December 2016 – September 2017

Client: European Housing Partnership (EHP)

Metropolitan Research Institute was involved in the project “Overcoming Obstacles to the Funding and Delivery of Affordable Housing Supply in European Cities”: as housing policy advocacy groups have been becoming increasingly aware of the structural differences of housing affordability challenges and possibilities in old and new EU member states, MRI was commissioned to lead an expert team on affordable housing challenges in the eleven new EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe.

EHP consists of the representatives of five EU member states: Slovakia (coordinator), Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Slovenia; and two observers, the Czech Republic, and Sweden. Together with a number of cities, networks, NGOs and EU institutions, they contributed to the European Union’s shaping Urban Agenda. EHP is committed to promoting investment in affordable housing: finding good practice in funding and innovation, and also by identifying systemic challenges which constrain the growth of the sector. Scottish Cities Alliance’s working group, led by Professor Ken Gibb (University of Glasgow), investigated the Western European experience of these issues, while MRI leads the research on Central and Eastern European states.

The project focusing on CEE countries, “Affordable Housing in Central and Eastern Europe: Identifying and Overcoming Constraints in New EU Member States”, is led by MRI’s senior researcher József Hegedüs. MRI’s own staff is supported by in-country experts Martin Lux (Czech Academy of Science), Anneli Kährik (Uppsala University), Richard Sendi (Urban Planning Institute of Slovenia), and Veronika Reháková of the project coordinator, the Ministry of Transport and Construction of Slovakia.

REELIH – RESIDENTIAL ENERGY EFFICIENCY FOR LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS (2014-2016)

2016-12-12

Client: Habitat for Humanity International, financed by USAID

Duration: August 2014 – September 2016

REELIH looked at the increase of energy efficiency and the refurbishment of dilapidated buildings inhabited by low-income households as a way to counter effectively and on a long-term basis the energy poverty of households. Concentrating on Armenia and Bosnia, the project consisted of need assessment in the designated countries, advocacy work and pilot projects. MRI staff acted consults, focusing on three activities:

Providing constant support to the local Habitat offices (commissioned to carry out the local projects) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Armenia by assisting the field research, supporting the reporting process, and formulating recommendations for the two countries about the conditions of establishing a successful national/cantonal programs;
Undertaking the comparative analysis of energy efficiency renewal programmes in four Central and Eastern European countries: Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania;
Elaborating a final report, comprising of the synthesis of national and regional research findings in the CEE countries and formulating policy recommendations on the national and regional level .

MRI concluded that introducing the same energy efficient interventions in Armenia and Bosnia are not feasible targeting low-income households, as only middle to upper middle class households could afford financing these interventions, even with public sector support. In addition, the most significant impediments against energy efficient renovations in the multi-family building stock are rooted in the inadequate legal system (insufficient laws and regulations on condominium management) and the ineffective operation of the financial system (risk-avoiding behaviour of financial institutions).

PROFICIENT (2012-2016)

2016-11-10

Client: Directorate General for Research and Innovation (European Commission)

Project duration: September 2012 – August 2016

This Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) funded research project had a very broad focus: on the one hand it concentrated on identifying the possibilities of establishing new collective-self organized residential complexes all over Europe, on the other hand it intended to define the circumstances under which residents of owner-occupied multi-unit buildings can implement the energy efficient renovation of their estates. The project has developed a website that assists the communities to go through either the construction or the renovation process. MRI was responsible for developing business models that would enable SMEs to be drivers of the construction or renovation process. The therefore project aimed at developing business models that focus on a special segment of the market, producing business and service products (e.g. e-market place) providing new business opportunities for SMEs in this segment, comprising

Collective self-organised housing (CSO), where the inhabitants have a major role in the decisions concerning construction or retrofitting thus even they have limited technical knowledge they are capable to express their ideas;
The business model is based on ESCO structure, building on performance guarantee;
The interventions focus on not only single buildings but on district level (neighbourhood) residential areas.

During the research process MRI was able to get acquainted with the establishment and operation of collective-self organized housing forms that are practically unknown in Hungary if we speak about new construction (part of this segment is co-housing that is quite common in some European countries, like Denmark), while it is the dominant form of housing if we speak about renovation as most of the multi-unit buildings are owner occupied in Hungary (while this is not the case in Western-Europe).

All the deliverables of the project can be found at: http://proficient-project.eu