Fixing homes through an inspiring public-private partnership

The shortage of decent and affordable housing, both for purchase and rental, is getting deeper and deeper. Millions of homes in the EU need urgent renovations. But how can we scale up retrofitting efficiently? How can local governments best guide the citizens who would like to improve their home’s energy performance? One-stop-shops are seen as a powerful tool and we were delighted to have a one-stop-shop expertfor our podcast. Our guest for this episode was Gabriel Quentin. Gabriel is Partnership Manager at Oktave, a regional one-stop-shop for renovation in the East of France. If someone knows how to design and operate a retrofitting one-stop-shop in the most viable way, it’s him.

Oktave Grand Est is a French retrofitting one-stop-shop that celebrated its 10.000 renovation in 2023. It operates all across the region that covers the East of the country.

The practice shows the added value of creating a regional one-stop-shop for renovation. Regions and municipalities across Europe offer loans and grants for building renovation but this is often not well advertised or not easily accessible for individuals. Many homeowners struggle with getting access to independent expert advice on renovation or finding competent craftsmen who can do the job.

Oktave can be a blueprint for others and learning from its journey can avoid reinventing the wheel. Gabriel explains how first successful pilot projects such as the Energy Renovation Pioneers (Pionniers de la rénovation énergétique) in 2008 and national support programmes had planted the seed: considering the testbeds’ effectiveness and considering the urgent need to speed up retrofitting, the regional administration decided to set up the one-stop-shop “Oktave” in 2018 as a public-private venture. Since then, the company has grown from 10 to 65 employees and offers a very structured guidance to homeowners, from first advice to the final acceptance of construction work. Gabriel is very transparent: during the interview he explains that the economic balance is not yet found, but the company is constantly reviewing its service model getting closer to the breakeven point.

This episode was produced with support from the EU Peers initiative and funding from the European Union’s LIFE Programme.

EU Peers is the European Community of Practice for One-Stop Shops. One-stop-shops provide Integrated Home Renovation Services to homeowners, and their supporters. EU Peers strengthens and upscales renovation rates in Europe. www.eu-peers.eu