INREV case study: investing in Europe's future homeowners
INREV published Crayon Jaune as a case study in its affordable housing series: the deposit gap in European cities, and a rent-to-own structure built to close it.
INREV, the European association for investors in non-listed real estate, published Crayon Jaune as a case study in its affordable housing series, under the title Investing in Europe's future homeowners (January 2026).
The case study states the problem before the solution. Seventy-seven per cent of 18 to 30 year olds expect to own a home by 35 (Ifop, September 2024), while buying in Paris or London now takes around fourteen years of income against six in the early 2000s. Across Western Europe, homeownership among the under-35s has fallen by close to 35% in twenty years. Prices rose two to three times faster than wages. The households shut out are not the poorest: they are the middle-income ones already paying the monthly cost in rent.
The structure it describes is the one we built. Crayon Jaune, an Article 8 SFDR Luxembourg vehicle launched in mid-2025, acquires well-located residential portfolios across Greater London and lets them to households on a defined path: a secure tenancy, financial coaching, and an option to buy at a formula agreed at the outset, with a set share of each month's rent credited toward the deposit. After two years in the programme, a participant can typically cover up to 90% of the deposit required.
What the case study records next is the part we did not have to argue for. Tenant retention well above private rental benchmarks, occupiers who, in its words, « behave like homeowners », and an exit visible from the start, through the tenant buying or through a portfolio sale.
Its own summary line is the shortest version of the thesis: turning today's tenants into tomorrow's homeowners through aligned capital.
Read the case study on inrev.org (PDF, free access)
