OECD High-Level Roundtable on Policies for Better, More Affordable Housing in the Post-COVID-19 Era
Friday 16 June 2023 | 14h00-15h30 (CET)
Housing continues to challenge policymakers worldwide Lockdowns during the pandemic and adoption of remote work facilitated by digitalisation have changed working practices, with durable impacts on housing demand. House prices and rents have risen sharply in many countries, putting pressure on household budgets and raising concerns about affordability, especially among vulnerable social groups. Achieving agreed climate change targets requires steadfast action to decarbonise the real estate sector, where energy consumption is high
The new OECD report Brick by Brick: Better Housing Policies – Volume II identifies tools that policymakers can mobilise to respond to these interconnected challenges, to deal with trade-offs among different policy objectives, and to create synergies among sectoral interventions in pursuit of common goals The report discusses ways to:
• address housing affordability concerns, especially among vulnerable social groups;
• decarbonise the real estate sector as part of broader national strategies to achieve climate change targets;
• mobilise housing finance while making the economy more efficient and resilient; and
• face the challenges associated with shifting housing demand in the post-pandemic era.
These policy instruments broaden and enrich the OECD Housing Policy Toolkit launched in 2021 to make housing markets more efficient, more inclusive and more sustainable amid new challenges.
The High-Level Roundtable provides an opportunity for senior policymakers and stakeholders to exchange views on these key challenges.
The Roundtable will be opened by Mr. Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General of the OECD.
Roundtable panellists:
• Jorge Rivera Staff, National Energy Secretary, Panama
• Klemen Ploštajner, State Secretary, Ministry for a Solidarity-Based Future, Slovenia
• Marine Dujardin, Head of Macroprudential Policy, Bank of France, France
• Manuel Morales Alpizar, Director, Ministry of Housing and Human Settlements, Costa Rica
• Luca Bertalot, Secretary-General, European Mortgage Federation and European Covered Bond Council