Shelter has become precarious for millions of Europeans. The European Commission therefore should release money, demolish red tape and build an EU-level plan for decent, sustainable, and affordable housing, Brussels parliamentarians say.
The European Parliament took an unfamiliar step into bricks and mortar on 10 March. By 367 votes to 166, with 84 abstentions, members adopted the final report of their Special Committee on the Housing Crisis.
Rents have climbed by more than 30 per cent since 2010, sale prices by 60 per cent. Over the past five years, residential permits have fallen by more than 20 per cent, the lawmakers argued.
Ten million units
The committee says the continent needs ten million extra dwellings. Without them, labour cannot move, young families delay children and cities lose talent. MEP Irene Tinagli (S&D/ITA), who chaired the body, set the tone: “Housing is a fundamental social priority, and in the past year our committee has demonstrated that the housing crisis in the EU is real, affecting people in all member states.”
The report’s prescription rests on five principal ideas: simpler permits, tax incentives, easier finance, a larger construction workforce and stronger data. It also calls for clearer rules on short-term rentals and a guaranteed slice of public and social housing in every city.
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At the heart of the plan sits rapporteur, MEP Borja Giménez Larraz (EPP/ESP). “A generation that cannot afford a home cannot build a future. Europe is short 10 million homes, rents are up by more than 30 per cent, and young people and families are paying the price,” he declared after the vote.
The Spaniard promised “a housing simplification package, faster permits in 60 days, investment in skills, legal certainty and protection for property owners and tenants”. He ended with a warning: “No more excuses. Member states must now deliver.”
Money and manpower
Finance looms just as large. The report asks governments to recycle unspent recovery funds into social and affordable housing and urges the Commission to relax state-aid rules so that public bodies can back projects without breaching competition law. Private money must still carry most of the weight, so MEPs press for deeper capital markets and friendlier rules on public–private partnerships.
Construction sites cannot rise without workers, yet the sector scrambles for staff. “The housing crisis cannot be solved without a fully trained and mobile construction workforce,” Mr Giménez Larraz told reporters. The text recommends modular apprenticeships, mutual recognition of qualifications and smoother intra-EU mobility. Where gaps persist, it accepts that firms may recruit from third countries.
The problem for millions and millions of Europeans is that they cannot find homes that they can afford. They can’t afford neither to buy nor to rent. — MEP Irene Tinagli (S&D/ITA)
Innovation should help. Prefabrication, digital design and modern methods can cut labour needs and carbon. The committee also calls for a tougher single market for raw materials and minimum Made-in-EU content in EU-financed projects.
Airbnb on a leash
Renovation ranks alongside fresh concrete. Ms Tinagli pointed to “percentages as high as 20, 27 in some countries” of empty homes. Converting brownfields or refurbishing vacant flats adds beds faster than greenfield schemes. The report therefore asks the Commission for a “construction service act” to speed change-of-use permits and encourage energy-saving retrofits.
Tourism brings cash but depletes housing in hotspots. Ms Tinagli captured the dilemma: “The problem for millions and millions of Europeans is that they cannot find homes that they can afford. They can’t afford neither to buy nor to rent.” The committee welcomes the Commission’s promise of a proposal on short-term rentals. Any EU law should define terms and yardsticks, leaving towns free to act when homes vanish into holiday lets. Rules must remain “necessary, adequate and proportionate”, Mr Giménez Larraz reminded colleagues, echoing the Court of Justice.
Social housing also gets space. The report backs an “adequate share” of such stock in every city and calls for tax breaks that make long-term renting more attractive than flipping. It condemns squatting while urging stronger tenant rights to stop sudden rent spikes.
Politics and competence
Greens and Leftists withheld support, calling the text timid; conservatives fretted about meddling. Yet the centrist alliance of the European People’s Party, Socialists & Democrats and Renew held. Ms Tinagli applauded that platform’s “very productive, very cooperative” work.
Responsibility remains murky. Housing policy is mainly national, but EU rules on finance, energy and competition shape markets. Ms Tinagli argued that “certain drivers of the problems are pretty structural” and sit in Brussels’ jurisdiction: state-aid limits that hobble social projects or the financialisation of property.
A generation that cannot afford a home cannot build a future. — MEP Borja Giménez Larraz (EPP/ESP)
The Commission’s Affordable Housing Plan, published in December, promises legislation on rentals and permits by year-end. “Now it is the moment for us to press and to lobby the European Commission in the direction that this European Parliament has decided,” Mr Giménez Larraz said. The special committee will run six more months, giving MEPs a perch from which to nag.
The political pressure is plain. As Ms Tinagli put it, “The housing crisis has far-reaching consequences for the quality of life of Europeans, impacting people’s health, social cohesion, and access to economic opportunities.” Parliament has fired its starter’s pistol.
