The European Investment Bank (EIB) has today signed a €125 million financing agreement with Livie, a French company which is part of the BATIGERE network dedicated to building affordable housing. It will build 1,500 affordable homes for 3,500 residents over the next five years. The EIB loan will be guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI). Livie will provide 1,500 housing units in “densely populated areas with increasing pressure on access to housing”, namely in the metropolitan areas of Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Nice and Strasbourg, as well as in the urban areas of Nantes, Toulouse and Pau. The project, aimed at middle-income workers whose incomes are too high for social housing but too low for private market housing, will create a more balanced local residential market, while also contributing to urban renewal and cohesion and to improving living standards for middle-income households. 3,300 jobs per year will be created during the construction phase and the highest environmental standards will be met. “Since the coronavirus pandemic hit Europe, the EIB has been fully mobilised to support businesses” and now it is “continuing its mission to provide long-term financing to the economy and the green transition as the EU climate bank,” said EIB Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. Livie will now issue calls for proposals to identify the promoters and partners that can best carry out the project.