On Monday 16 December, the European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC) published its expectations of the European Commission’s future plans for sustainable and affordable housing.
“It focuses in particular on: - mobilising private and public investment; - relaxing the prudential rules imposed by Basel III, in order to mobilise private investment; - improving access to mortgage loans for households and young people; - a simplified regulatory and administrative environment for construction companies, with clear rules that can speed up the building process, reduce construction costs and create overall affordability; - greater support to research and innovation and digitalisation”. In addition, all the players involved must continue to work on improving the attractiveness of the sector to combat the shortage of skilled labour.
The latest FIEC figures show “the residential construction sector has been declining significantly in several EU Member States. Overall, new construction and renovation of housing fell by 2.6% in 2023 and is expected to fall another 5.7% in 2024. Low investment in new housing and renovation, driven by high costs, is affecting demand across the EU.”, writes FIEC.
Construction costs reached record levels after the pandemic and as a result of the war in Ukraine, emphasises FIEC, which also points to “a heavy regulatory environment” for housing production.
Link to the document: https://aeur.eu/f/etv (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)