Full title: Linking Energy Efficient Green Upgrades with Private Investments to support sustainable and affordable homes
Partners: Onesto, UCI, Fundacio Europace, ICCS, EnerSave Capital.
Start Date: 01/06/2025 Duration: 36 months
About the Project
The LIFE LEG-UP project introduces an innovative model that connects affordable homeownership with energy-efficient renovation, using smart financial instruments and strong local support structures. Building on the successful Onesto social mortgage scheme in Belgium, the project expands the approach through a network of One-Stop Shops (OSS) that offer citizens technical, financial, and administrative assistance for sustainable home upgrades.
At its core, LEG-UP designs a new energy-efficient mortgage in cooperation with ethical and cooperative lenders. This product enables low-income and first-time buyers to purchase and renovate their homes through a single, affordable loan, with repayments balanced by energy savings. The model also integrates risk-mitigation tools to attract private investors and make green lending mainstream.
Pilot actions in Flanders (Belgium) and Girona (Spain) will test and validate the approach, generating insights for replication across Europe. By combining financial innovation, local capacity building, and citizen-centred services, LEG-UP paves the way for large-scale renovation schemes that can be adopted by municipalities, housing agencies, and investors.
Contributing to the EU Renovation Wave, Energy Efficiency Directive, and REPowerEU Plan, LEG-UP promotes energy efficiency, social inclusion, and financial access, supporting a just and sustainable transition for European households.
Methodology
- Market analysis and data gathering.
- Technological infrastructure for EE loans.
- Market engagement and legal framework.
- Innovative financial schemes.
- Pilot implementation (Belgium and Spain).
- Dissemination and capacity building.
EPU-NTUA role
In this project, EPU-NTUA will design, develop and operate the platform which will be used to enable the client onboarding process for the proposed dual innovative financing scheme. Specifically, the platform will support lenders in evaluating the applications of potential first time buyers of homes, taking into account personal and financial information, as well as data related to the property to be bought. Through credit scoring approaches and automated analysis of documents, the platform will streamline the process and optimise the assessments of the clients. Furthermore, the cooperation between the different stakeholders (one stop shops, lenders, homeowners, investors, financial stakeholders participating in loan securitisation) will be facilitated, thanks to the standardised procedures, communication panels and monitoring dashboards provided by the platform.
EPU-NTUA will design a seamless and efficient workflow, prioritising transparency, security and accountability. The platform’s architecture will be based on the definition of functional requirements, while also taking into account the feedback received from stakeholders throughout the project’s duration, through surveys, bilateral and multilateral meetings, targeted webinars and other events. Continuous testing and adjustments will improve the platform’s user friendliness, robustness and performance.
Partners
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Disclaimer
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.