At its plenary session on 17 September, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted an opinion for a “European Affordable Housing Plan”, due in 2026.
The opinion, supported by Ireland’s John Comer and Austria’s Thomas Kattnig: - calls on the Commission to develop an action plan to enforce the fundamental right to housing, “emphasising that this right must be formally enshrined in EU primary law; - urges to reform state aid rules to allow broader access to social housing. The current definition of service of general economic interest (SGEI) excludes key groups and limits Member States’ ability to respond to rising demand; - highlights the urgent need for a coordinated EU approach to address the shortage of affordable and sustainable housing, while respecting subsidiarity, as housing policy remains primarily a Member State competence; - recommends adopting an EU Housing Action Plan (...) and that all Member States introduce ‘housing first’ programmes to tackle homelessness in order to reduce social inequality and deprivation”.
In 2023, 10.6% of people in EU cities were living in households that spent over 40% of their disposable income on housing, compared to 7% in rural areas. “This cost overburden is increasing, highlighting a trend that is socially and economically unsustainable”, explains the opinion.
Between 2010 and 2023, construction prices for new housing in the EU rose by 52%. Around 17% of the Union’s population lived in overcrowded homes and 11% were unable to keep their homes adequately warm because of energy poverty. “Eurostat data from October 2024 shows that rent had increased by 3% over the previous year, while house prices had gone up by 2.9% and had more than doubled in nine EU Member States since 2010”.
Short-term rentals also “significantly drive up housing costs and reduce long-term rental availability in EU cities”, says the EESC. On 10 September, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had announced the preparation of legislation to regulate short-term rentals.
Link to the opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/il6 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)