Eighteen ageing terraced houses in Leuven, each an architectural scar on the streetscape, are being given a second life as energy-efficient social housing. Through a DBFMO arrangement (Design, Build, Finance, Maintain and Operate), AGSLeuven makes the properties available to a third party under a 27-year long lease. That party renovates them to EPC rating A and rents them out through a mix of regular, subsidised and social rental arrangements: one third as regular rentals, one third under a regulated rental scheme with a 15% subsidy, and one third as social housing with a 25% subsidy. This gives households in need access to comfortable homes and low energy bills. The impact is concrete and measurable: 121 tonnes of CO₂ emissions avoided annually, at €70 per tonne per year. Through this effort, the project brings Leuven 2030 closer to a climate-neutral city, step by step, while keeping the need for social housing firmly in view.

An additional benefit: alongside its substantial social dimension, this project gives you the opportunity to help establish Leuven’s steward-owned climate fund. Through financial leverage and impact financing, the fund aims to accelerate progress towards climate neutrality by also financing projects with lower financial returns. These lower returns stem precisely from the more limited repayment capacity associated with social housing. Where the market steps back, the climate transition stalls. That is where the climate fund steps in.

By participating, you become a founding supporter of the EU pilot project for a steward-owned climate fund in Leuven. The logic is simple yet powerful: financially viable impact projects create financial leverage, and their returns support impact projects with lower financial returns. The ultimate financial objective is net capital preservation, combined with measurable non-financial impact. This keeps capital circulating and turns every euro invested in climate impact into a lasting lever for change rather than a one-off donation.