One-stop-shops for sustainable renovation: A key tool to inform, motivate, assist and support
15 March 2021
Brussels, Belgium
In a joint paper, the European Builders Confederation (EBC) and the International Union of Property Owners (UIPI) call for a robust political commitment to enable the long-term vision required for the establishment and efficient management of one-stop-shops (OSS) for sustainable renovation, which represent an important cornerstone for reaching the goals of the Renovation Wave and the European Green Deal.
EBC and UIPI started their common work on OSS in 2020 as both organisations recognise their enabling role in addressing the complexity and challenges of renovation works. Indeed, best-practice examples in Europe show that OSS can play a pivotal part in increasing renovation rates, in particular if they ensure a full range service path: from the design of the whole renovation project and the creation of an ad hoc financial plan to the coordination of the process and the provision of – or the facilitation of access to – adequate and affordable funding or financing schemes.
However, OSS around Europe currently do not offer a uniform service package, and too often focus exclusively on specific aspects such as awareness-raising or the coordination of market actors, which diminishes the impact they can actually have. One of the reasons for this variety of OSS is the complex and diverse framework in which they have to operate and the obstacles they have to overcome, e.g. related to local and regional regulatory differences, legal requirements and required performance indicators. In light of this, UIPI and EBC put forward proposals in order to foster and upscale the OSS approach, among which:
- Encourage funding of comprehensive/all-inclusive OSSs, which can unlock the full potential of renovation in the private residential sector
- Ensure sufficient flexibility to allow consumers to choose their most trusted and qualified professionals should they decide to rely on a OSS in their renovation journey
- Involve relevant stakeholders in the development and management of OSSs to ensure that the tools are targeted to market needs and expectations etc.
- Encourage Member States to make use of the next Multiannual Financial Framework to set up and manage effective OSS models at local and regional level
- Facilitate the blending of European Structural and Investment Funds with EIB loans for actors wishing to establish an OSS
“We believe that all-inclusive one-stop-shops for sustainable renovation are a great tool to increase renovation rates in the EU, because they facilitate information exchange, allow access to financing and help connect property owners and construction SMEs. Hence, it is important to facilitate a larger roll-out of comprehensive OSS in all Member States through an enabling framework and to make better use of them to generate a real wave of renovations.”
“Renovation and one-stop-shops are on everyone’s lips. But we need to make sure that this ‘trendy concept’, seen as a cure to some of the main barriers to building renovations, translates into concrete and effective tools. We still have a long way forward to massify and perpetuate these OSS, to tailor them to local situations and owners’ needs. Together with EBC we aim to contribute to the discussion, bring in our experience to make OSS a useful tool for the demand as well as the supply side.”
To read the full EBC-UIPI position paper on one-stop-shops for sustainable renovation, click here.
