Given we’re neck-deep in judging the ahi Brighter Future Awards 2025, it seems fitting to lift our gaze to see what excellence in social housing looks like in a European context. What inspiration can we take from these award-winning projects and how do our local initiatives hold up comparatively?
The winners and finalists of the European Responsible Housing Awards were honoured at a ceremony during the International Social Housing Festival 2025 in Dublin in June.
Current European sector challenges may sound familiar: Massive increase of prices (20%) and rents (48%), inflation and high consumer prices, unemployment and economic instability, rising construction costs, energy price volatility, demographic shifts… all leading to a massive demand for social and affordable housing.
Yet, these pressures have only further driven the commitment of public, cooperative and social housing providers to respond with innovative, inclusive, and sustainable solutions.
One case in point is the winner of the award for ‘going the extra mile for safe and sound housing’,
Antin Résidences in France, who have developed a ‘healthy housing’ model incorporating medicine, wellbeing and healthy living into their everyday housing.
Health Housing: A New Generation of Social Housing for Well-being
Objective
In France, people spend an average of 16 hours a day at home, making housing a critical determinant of health—alongside nutrition, activity, employment, and education. With this in mind, Antin Résidences and the Arcade - Vyv Group launched the “My Health Housing” initiative in 2019, in partnership with healthcare mutual VYV Group. This innovative concept emerged from a rare collaboration between the domains of architecture and medicine, with a vision to make housing a proactive tool for well-being.
The overarching goals:
- Design, build, and manage homes that actively promote physical and mental health through thoughtful architecture and services
- Empower tenants to live healthier, more autonomous lives by embedding well-being into everyday housing
- Transform social housing into a space of care and prevention, not just shelter - ultimately positioning housing as a frontline of public health
This vision materialized in the Les Allées du Lac residence, the first in Île-de-France to earn the My Health Housing label, demonstrating how a housing project can simultaneously serve public interest, respond to health and climate crises, and reduce social isolation.
Context
Amid the ongoing housing crisis in Îlede-France, Antin Résidences remains committed to its public mission: building high-quality social housing. Climate-related challenges (like heatwaves) and the recent pandemic have further highlighted the role of housing as a daily safe haven.
Meanwhile, shifting demographics and lifestyle trends—remote work, aging, singleparent families—have led to rising isolation and health vulnerabilities. One in three older adults now faces social isolation, a trend that significantly affects the 24% of social housing households where the main resident is over 65.
This project addresses these overlapping pressures with an integrated, intergenerational housing model that promotes health, inclusion, and resilience.
Innovation
Since 2019, Antin Résidences has taken on the role of a “health landlord”, embedding health into every layer of its operations:
- Health-certified construction: 1,187 homes have already been labeled My Health Housing, with a target of 100% certification for all new builds (excluding VEFA)
- Extension to renovation: From 2025, the label will apply to older buildings as well
- Holistic services: Tenants receive access to 24/7 health teleconsultation, referral to professionals (doctors, lawyers, psychologists), and support services like friendly check-in calls
- Inclusive housing: The residence includes nine senior tenants in a co-managed living system that promotes autonomy over institutional care
Despite sector-wide budget constraints, the extra investment required to implement these features - ranging from 0% to 15% of operational cost - is viewed as a strategic long-term gain in tenant well-being, public health, and housing quality.
Tools Used
The Les Allées du Lac project served as a pilot site for defining and testing the My Health Housing model. Key tools included:
- A cross-functional governance structure, including a dedicated quarterly committee and specialized project monitoring meetings
- Creation of the “My Health Housing” commitments framework, which identifies standardized architectural and service levers and allows tailoring to specific resident profiles
- Structured stakeholder involvement:
- Design & development by Arcade-VYV Promotion and Antin Résidences
- Funding from the Yvelines department
- Resident selection coordinated with the city of Voisins-le-Bretonneux
- Common space activation led by Récipro-Cité in partnership with local associations and social services
- Resident governance through self-developed charters and shared activity planning
In 2024, researchers from the Center for Housing Research selected this residence as a national study site on health literacy, organizing interviews, workshops, and site visits to gather data and tenant feedback. A digital tenant survey is now being developed to scale this participatory process across future sites.
Key Results and Benefits
Project delivery: April 2023
Housing mix:
- 47 social rental units (14 adapted for elderly or disabled residents).
- 14 rent-to-own units.
- 34 social homeownership units.
Physical and spatial features:
- Barrier-free access, secure entry, videophones, adapted lighting.
- All units with private outdoor space.
- Shared garden and open-air village square for walking, cycling, and stroller use.
- Natural lighting, acoustic comfort, and heat resilience features.
Community and well-being outcomes:
- Strong resident engagement with communal space and activities: yoga, digital literacy, cooking, karaoke
- Independent organization of events by tenants outside official hours.
- High participation in intergenerational programs and mutual aid.
- Increased respect for shared areas and stronger sense of belonging.
- Tenants describe the environment as open, warm, and even “holiday-like”.
Institutional impact:
- Renewed trust from the city, leading to the launch of “La Remise”, a 126- unit follow-up project.
- Residence selected as a national pilot site for research on health literacy in housing.
What the Jury Liked
The jury praised the holistic approach combining air quality, accessibility, and green design with real health services and community building.
They highlighted Antin Résidences’ view of tenants as whole people, with emotional, physical, and social needs, and celebrated the model’s innovation, replicability, and alignment with environmental and social sustainability.
The ahi Brighter Future Awards 2025 are now underway! Visit
https://www.theahi.com.au/brighter-future-awards
to find out more.
Share This Article
Other articles you may like
