Anderson, Miriam / Arroyo, Esther (U. Barcelona) (Coords.)
On the 16th of June the conference Renovation wave for Europe: MEPS, green mortgages and multi-unit buildings took place at the Universitat de Barcelona. During the conference, a multitude of subjects was discussed. All the presentations did, however, have one thing in common. They all centered around the Renovation of the built environment in Europe, in particular climate-proofing the built environment. The conference was divided into three separate parts. In the first session, there was a threefold of presentations on positive renovation obligations. In the second session, multi-unit buildings were discussed. And finally, in the third session green finance and mortgages were broadly debated.
The first panel, about positive obligations, consisted of three speakers. Firstly, David Weatherall’s presentation titled ‘Insights (mainly) for England: positive obligations and multi-unit buildings’, offered a view on the (technical) limitations of minimum energy efficiency standards. Björn Hoops’ presentation ‘Positive energy performance obligations in practice’ discussed administrative and constitutional law barriers in the Netherlands for positive energy performance obligations, and finally Dorothy Gruyaert’s presentation ‘The energy-renovation obligation in Flanders: towards owners’ social responsibility’ showed that regulation in Flanders is becoming gradually stricter, there is more needed than just incentives to renovate and owners are more and more confronted with a social responsibility. Gruyaert does, however, wonder how socially sustainable these positive obligations are. In short, the first session brought the legal, practical and technical limitations of positive obligations to light.
The second panel was concerned with challenges that multi-unit buildings bring into the mix. Frankie McCarthy’s presentation titled ‘Improving the energy efficiency of multi-occupancy buildings in Scotland’, showed that in multi-unit buildings in Scotland there is, legally speaking, no recognition of a building as an entity – a building consists of individually owned flats. This leads to a lack of contact between owners, which could in turn lead to an inability to renovate. Scotland might benefit from the implementation of compulsory owners’ associations. However, this too could bring a few problems. McCarthy was followed by Yassine Hasnaoui, who spoke on decision making in multi-unit buildings in his presentation ‘Dutch condominium law and democratic decision making: ways out of the impasse.’ He illustrated that Dutch condominium law creates a paradox: the flexibility of the law creates a rigid system in which decision making can easily be frustrated. On the other hand, Rosa Garcia Teruel spoke on ‘Overcoming the tenant-owner dilemma in the private rental market and the impact on multi-unit buildings’. In her presentation she focused on split incentives as a significant barrier to investments. She presented comparative tenancy law research on this issue, in which she focused on legal measures that affect the landlord and tenant’s incentive to renovate. Lastly, Isabel Viola Demestre presented her paper on ‘Solving conflicts in multi-unit building renovation: the role of mediation and ADR systems.’ She reflected on the possibility of using mediation to overcome conflicts in multi-unit buildings. The second panel identified several difficulties that arise when multi-unit buildings are to be renovated, and offered solutions to various of these problems.
The topic of the third and last panel was green financing. Sarah Nield’s presentation ‘Housing and Net ZERO (or Not) by 2050: the UK Story’ illustrated that the UK financing sector has no great confidence in the UK’s net zero-plans and offered various causes for this. Elena Sánchez Jordán presented on ‘Green financing for home energy efficiency improvements: many doubts and some certainties (or much ado about nothing)’. She focused on energy efficient mortgages in Europe as well as Spain. Johan Vannerom’s presentation ‘‘Towards a green future via credit granted to consumers’ because we care for the climate, the economy and social inclusion…’ concentrated on green loans and highlighted that there might be a correlation between loan performance and EPC-rating. Lastly, Leonor Pilar Echevarria Pérez spoke about promoting green financing under regulatory uncertainty. In her presentation, she underlined that green engagement is not prioritized due to costs and lack of faith in the sustainability of green products.
All in all, the conference included a wide range of presentations that offered different perspectives on the renovation wave in Europe. It became clear that many legal, practical and technical complications come into play when thinking about renovating the built environment. A common theme that ran through most of the presentations is that sustainability, in a broad sense, should be kept in mind with regards to the renovation wave. Climate-proofing is needed to combat climate change, but no one should be left behind.
N.L. (Nora) Bouzoraa, LLM
Student-assistent Privaatrecht en Notarieel Recht
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
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