On Thursday 11 December, the S&D Group in the European Parliament said it was “confident” that the Commission would take account of the concerns raised by Parliament in its future European plan for affordable housing, to be presented in Strasbourg on 16 December.
At a meeting with the press, the Chair of Parliament’s Special Committee on Housing (HOUS), Irene Tinagli (S&D), and Austrian MEP Andreas Schieder reiterated the expectations of the group, which has been campaigning “for years” for EU action in this area.
“The S&D Group has long been aware of this growing emergency in society and the economy, but we have always found it difficult to place it at the heart of European policy”, commented the Italian.
In the HOUS committee, she also noted that this emergency was now shared by all the political groups, including the far right, whereas they had been sceptical about the creation of this committee, since housing is primarily a national responsibility.
After “a year’s work, what we can see is that this is first and foremost a widespread crisis throughout the European Union. In most countries, this is one of the main concerns of citizens on a daily basis”. And it doesn’t just concern “a few major cities, such as central Paris, Milan, and Madrid. It is also strongly felt in suburban areas and medium-sized towns”, added the Chair, who hopes to avoid a ‘Venezuela’ majority on the committee’s report, which will be voted on 9 February.
While the concerns of the various groups overlap, some believe that the market will solve everything on its own, said the elected representatives.
“Building more will not be enough. It’s a complex problem with many causes”, including over-tourism, increasing financialisation, and cities that are major university centres and use residential accommodation for students, added the Italian.
The group therefore expects the EU to take action in a number of areas: increasing investment in affordable housing; reforming the criteria for State rules to facilitate access to housing for low- and middle-income households. “These are two measures that the European Union can take on relatively quickly and easily”, says the group.
We still need to put an end to the growing speculation in housing and tackle the problem of short-term rentals, which distort the market. The fight against homelessness must also be a major issue. The tax rules also need to be tackled to allow more investment in housing and to strengthen support for social and public housing, added the elected representatives.
The S&D Group conducted a survey of around 4,000 people across the EU: over 30% of respondents said they could no longer cope with soaring housing prices and 72% said the EU must act now; 37% said the situation of people on low and middle incomes must be improved. And 76% of respondents say that it is more difficult for them to buy or rent a home than it was for their parents at their age, the study also reveals.
On Thursday, the Renew Europe Group also called on the Commission “to respond with clarity and ambition”. “The EU will not build your home, but we must clear the path. Our duty is to ensure that laws do not stand in the way of housing supply”, said Brigitte van den Berg from the Netherlands.
Link to the S&D study: https://aeur.eu/f/jy2 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)