Housing Europe joined a series of key debates with Members of the European Parliament, starting with how to move beyond speculation and ensure long-term housing affordability.

At a hearing of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) Committee on housing rentals, our Secretary General, Sorcha Edwards, emphasised the importance of recognising the unique fabric of Europe’s social housing provision and the need to support it at the European level. As the debate was organised to focus on the impact of short-term rentals, she also highlighted the urgent need to strengthen consumer protections against predatory investment practices and to redirect investment towards public, cooperative, and social housing. Europe’s not-for-profit housing sector is a vital pillar of affordability—one that must be reinforced, not undermined.

Discussions often default to simplistic solutions like ‘just build more’ or ‘just fund more.’ 

While increasing the supply of affordable homes is essential to solving Europe’s housing crisis, it is equally important to consider who controls housing, for what purpose, and whether homes will remain affordable in the long term.

Without tackling financialisation, new developments risk becoming assets for speculation rather than places to live.

Housing Europe called on MEPs to scale up district-level decarbonisation. We have seen that decoupling climate policy from housing affordability is a dangerous path. The Affordable Housing Initiative European Partnership, our joint effort with the European Commission, demonstrates how sustainability and affordability can go hand in hand.

Finally, the EU’s economic governance must go beyond price signals. Housing affordability and exclusion indicators should be integrated into the EU Semester and monitored as part of Europe’s key economic review process. Member States need the right signals to prioritise long-term, stable housing solutions.

You can re-watch the IMCO debate, we start at 14:58:00.



Our Secretary-General continued discussions with ECON MEPs, the lawmakers responsible for economic and monetary affairs, focusing on the European Investment Bank’s (EIB) pivotal role.

Between 2019 and 2023, the EIB lent €6.5 billion to the sector and has committed to double funding to the sector as part of the upcoming pan-European investment platform for affordable and sustainable housing.

What did we stress?

  • EIB financing is crucial, but loans alone are not enough. With long waiting lists and shrinking public support, the public, cooperative, and social housing sector must be able to rely not only on loans but also on grants, project aggregation, reinforced intermediate funds, and de-risking measures to ensure real impact.
  • The EIB’s commitment to doubling its housing investment is a welcome step, but as our Secretary-General Sorcha Edwards highlighted, it must serve a long-term, wider approach—one that ensures affordability, prevents homelessness, supports ageing in place, and aligns with climate goals.
  • Crucially, the people delivering housing projects must be heard. The real challenge is not just financing but ensuring that support reaches those who need it most.