Exploring business models for one-stop shops: public, private, and hybrid approaches

This Learning Lab explored how different business models can support the development and scaling of One-Stop Shops (OSS) for home renovation. Across two webinars, participants discussed conceptual frameworks, public and private OSS models, and practical cases from different European contexts. Key takeaways included the need to understand OSS beyond revenue logic alone, the importance of trust and coordination, ensure credible public and private support and the role of integrated financing and technical assistance in making renovation services more scalable, resilient and accessible.

Session 1: Public OSS business models (19 February 2026)

Main speakers: Hanna Szemző (Metropolitan Research Institute), Paula Ferrando Julià (GNE Finance)

The first session introduced a conceptual framework for understanding business models for One-Stop Shops in the renovation market. It clarified that a business model is not only about revenue streams, but also about how value is created, delivered and captured, including the allocation of roles, responsibilities and risks. The presentation also situated OSS within the broader concept of Integrated Home Renovation Services (IHRS), covering multiple stages of the customer journey and helping structure what remains an emerging and not yet fully standardised market in Europe. A shared typology of seven OSS business models was presented, ranging from advisory and accompaniment services to delegated developers and urban regeneration agents.

A second presentation focused on public OSS business models in practice, drawing on examples from Central and Eastern Europe shared through the ComActivate project. The cases showed that public OSS can take different forms depending on local context, institutional capacity and target groups, but are especially relevant in places where energy poverty, fragmented ownership and weak renovation ecosystems create major barriers for households. Examples from municipalities such as Józsefváros and Burgas illustrated how local authorities can act as trusted intermediaries, combining advice, outreach, coordination and support for housing managers. The discussion also highlighted strategic questions for public OSS, including long-term viability beyond project funding, the balance between public and private roles, territorial accessibility, and the importance of maintaining citizen trust, neutrality and inclusiveness.

The third contribution presented the Basque Opengela model through the BIRTUOSS project as an example of a fully public OSS designed for territorial scale-up. Rooted in a long-term urban regeneration strategy, Opengela was shown as a model that covers the full customer journey while keeping final decision-making in the hands of homeowners' communities. The presentation explained how the Basque Government has assumed the role of managing entity in order to support replication, standardisation and coordination across the region. It also provided concrete evidence on costs and scale, including more than €145 million mobilised for 2,061 dwellings, and suggested that accompaniment costs can serve as a benchmark for OSS financing, representing around 5% of renovation investment per dwelling. The case highlighted the importance of phased implementation, differentiated staffing profiles, strong local coordination and a regional support structure capable of adapting the model to different municipal realities.

Session 2: Private and hybrid OSS business models (26 February 2026)

Main speakers: Paula Ferrando Julià (GNE Finance), Franya Rodríguez Félix (TRAMITECO), Françoise Réfabert (Filao Labs)

The second session shifted the focus to private and hybrid OSS business models, starting with a strategic introduction on why these models matter if Europe is to meet its renovation targets. The presentation highlighted the gap between ambition and reality: while the EU aims to raise annual renovation rates above 2% by 2030, actual rates remain around 1%, and deep renovation is still marginal. Against this background, the session explored the value created by private and hybrid OSS through broader customer journey coverage, market orchestration, alignment with public and social objectives, and the reduction of risk and complexity for households. It also stressed that private OSS cannot scale on their own without enabling regulation, public trust and complementary public action, especially in a context where many business models still rely on temporary incentives and need to evolve towards more resilient and efficient structures.

The second contribution presented the case of TRAMITECO in Spain as an example of a private OSS offering turnkey support throughout the renovation process. The model was described as a phased pathway starting from technical inspection, diagnosis and renovation scenarios, then moving into project design, administrative processing and procurement, and finally into construction management, site supervision and file closure. A central message was that private OSS viability depends on combining multidisciplinary expertise with strong stakeholder coordination and the ability to "speak everyone's language", from homeowners to contractors and public administrations. The presentation also showed that demand-side public incentives such as NextGenerationEU funds have acted as an important catalyst for scaling activity, while administrative delays, labour shortages and underdeveloped local markets remain significant risks. Trust, standardised processes and clear public–private complementarity were identified as essential conditions for replication.

The final presentation introduced the French SERAFIN/FIDEO approach as a model combining integrated technical assistance with long-term financing for homeowners. Building on the logic of integrated home renovation services, the case showed how technical support, project management, quality control and follow-up can be bundled together with affordable long-term loans, allowing renovation works and assistance costs to be financed in a single offer. The model also takes into account expected energy savings and added property value when assessing repayment capacity and loan-to-value ratios, thereby strengthening both household access to finance and the business case for integrated renovation services. Results presented for the 2020–2024 period showed significant scale, with thousands of individual and multi-family renovations supported, hundreds of millions of euros mobilised, and measurable energy and CO₂ savings. The key lesson was that scaling private and hybrid OSS may require stronger links between renovation services, quality assurance frameworks and innovative financing structures able to move beyond grant dependency.

Conclusions from the Learning Lab on Business Models

The Learning Lab confirmed that there is no single business model for One-Stop Shops. Instead, OSS must be shaped according to territorial context, target groups, governance capacity and market maturity.

Public models can play a crucial role in building trust, reaching vulnerable households and structuring local ecosystems, while private and hybrid models can increase efficiency, expand service coverage and contribute to market scaling. At the same time, both webinars showed that long-term success depends on more than organisational design alone. Stable policy frameworks, clear public–private complementarity, adequate staffing, standardised processes, and access to appropriate financing instruments are all essential to move from promising pilots to large-scale implementation. A common message across all cases was that OSS create value not only by simplifying renovation journeys, but also by coordinating actors, reducing uncertainty and making ambitious renovation more feasible for households and communities.

Contact:
Valentina Cabal v.cabal@gnefinance.com; Paula Ferrando p.ferrando@gnefinance.com