The EU will present a plan to boost construction and regulate short-term rentals, addressing soaring prices and homelessness across the bloc.
STRASBOURG: The European Union will on Tuesday present its first-ever comprehensive plan to tackle the continent’s deepening housing crisis.
The initiative aims to boost construction and regulate short-term rental platforms like Airbnb.
Nearly 1.3 million people are homeless across the 27-nation bloc, a figure exceeding the entire population of Brussels.
Housing prices have surged by 60% over the past 15 years, while rents have climbed almost 30%, according to Eurostat data.
“For too many Europeans today, home has become a source of anxiety,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said recently.
The commission has drawn up an “affordable housing plan” in response to a crisis affecting all member states.
Housing policy remains primarily a national responsibility, unlike EU competencies in agriculture or trade.
Pressure has mounted in recent years, particularly from left-wing parties, for Brussels to intervene.
“It is a widespread crisis all across the EU,” said Irene Tinagli, the socialist chair of the EU parliament’s housing committee.
She noted the issue reaches far beyond Europe’s major city centres.
“We’ve been pushing for this for years but we’ve been struggling to put it at the core of European policy,” Tinagli added.
Commission officials say they have been surprised by the level of interest the housing proposals have generated.
“This is getting more traction than we expected,” a commission official told AFP.
According to a draft seen by AFP, the plan includes legislation to curb short-term rentals, particularly in tourist hotspots.
Measures could include capping the number of nights a property can be rented out.
The short-term rental crisis is particularly acute in Spain, where the government recently fined Airbnb for advertising banned properties.
Brussels also wants to help boost construction but is not considering mandatory quotas or price caps.
“We will not be presenting a binding legislative proposal saying that every member state has to build X amount of houses,” the commission official clarified.
The plan aims to tackle labour shortages through large-scale apprenticeship programmes.
It also seeks to ease some environmental rules to speed up building permits and facilitate public investment.
The EU hopes to mobilise private capital, estimating up to EUR 375 billion could be invested in the sector by 2029.
The commission estimates the bloc needs more than two million new homes annually to meet current demand. – AFP
