The European initiative HouseEurope! wants to preserve homes and communities, create a fairer and more local building industry, save energy and resources and preserve the history and memories of our building culture. Renovation and conversion should be the norm, as the potential of existing buildings is enormous.

To this end, representatives of all 27 EU countries have joined forces. All EU citizens with a valid EU passport are entitled to vote.

The renovation of public and private buildings holds enormous potential. The EU member states' goal of renovating the building stock by 2050 can be expressed in concrete figures: Currently, only 25% of the European building stock has been renovated; the renovation rate is 1% per year, meaning that it must be tripled in order to achieve these targets. This requires recognizing the value of existing buildings and prioritizing their renovation. Renovation offers the solution to create affordable housing, support small and medium-sized enterprises, reduce CO2 emissions and preserve memories and communities. A concrete roadmap for this is: Preserve, Adapt, Renovate, Transform.

HouseEurope! calls for a Right to Reuse for existing buildings, based on three key pillars:

1. Tax reductions for renovation works and the reuse of materials
2. Fair rules for the assessment of existing buildings,
3. New values for the embedded CO2 in existing structures.

If HouseEurope! collects 1 million votes, the European Commission is committed to initiate the discussion at the highest political level and bring legislation that makes sustainable construction and renovation the new norm across Europe.

You can vote online at this link.