The very first EU Commissioner with responsibility for housing

The political guidelines for the 2024-2029 mandate pinpoint the following initiatives and the details around this ambition are yet to be discussed.

• European Commissioner with responsibility for housing
• European Affordable Housing Plan
• An investment platform for affordable and sustainable housing 
• State Aid rules will be discussed for revision
• Space to double cohesion investments

Re-watch the commitment of President Ursula von der Leyen.

"How has housing become one of the main problems in Europe in the last years?," the journalists are asking us today. What were the red flags?

New economic and social realities in Europe have pushed people who did not typically require publicly supported housing options in previous generations. They are now struggling to find suitable housing options on the private market. Housing Europe estimated, based on figures by Eurostat, that 9.6 million full-time workers aged 25-34 still lived at home with their parents in 2022, which equates to one in five of all people at this age in the EU.

Rents and housing prices have seen a sharp increase in recent years, outpacing growth in incomes of many households. 

A public policy vacuum on housing has been filled by speculative opportunistic investment in many parts of the EU. As a result, we have seen massive housing protests taking place in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, and Lisbon. There is also a growing discontent coming from locals in highly touristic areas where short-term rentals are squeezing every square metre of the areas where jobs and schools are.

Homelessness, as one of the most detrimental outcomes of the lack of affordable housing, has increased by 70% between 2010 and 2020 according to FEANTSA. 

In short, the housing crisis has deepened so much that we have heard calls from the Socialists and Democrats Group, Greens/EFA, The Left in the European Parliament, EU's Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, mayors, and even Enrico Letta that the European Union has to incentivise socially inclusive and sustainable housing systems.

Since January, Housing Europe has been calling on EU policymakers to follow 3 steps to ensure that affordable and decent housing becomes, and stays, a reality for all. 

Our core ask continues to be the recognition and support of public, cooperative, and social housing providers as an invaluable force to counteract inequalities. We continue to insist on the need for a reset and a #NewHousingParadigm where a committed, experienced sector is the backbone, the guiding light on how housing must be delivered.

Roberta Metsola, who was also re-elected as the President of the European Parliament, underscored the severity of the housing crisis in Europe and called for the necessary tools to be provided at the European level.

"We will leave Europe a better place if we reinforce our social pillar, if we give people hope and dignity where the pensions and wages meet social expectations. We cannot move forward if our youth is unable to rent, let alone buy a place they can call home. Europe’s housing crisis is looming and we must have the tools to help address it even on European level."

The support of the European Parliament and appointment of an EU Commissioner dedicated to housing policies presents a rare and vital opportunity to address the pressing issue of housing across the 27 EU Member States. Ensuring that this initiative is driven by good forces and principles is essential for the effective realisation of housing as a basic social right.