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BackAt the end of last year, the EU Parliament set up a special committee on the housing crisis in the EU. The draft of the decisive report is now available. It aims to propose solutions for decent, sustainable and affordable housing. Whether the current version will succeed in doing so is questionable. As the Commissioner responsible, Dan Jørgensen, recently noted at an event in the EU Parliament, the first draft is controversial.
The housing crisis in Europe has been a key issue in Brussels since the EU Parliament elections, if not before. Dan Jørgensen was the first EU Commissioner for Energy and Housing to be appointed. He is tasked with presenting the first European Plan for Affordable Housing in 2025: in her State of the Union address this year, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen once again made it clear that the housing crisis is weakening social cohesion in Europe. The special committee in the EU Parliament has been particularly active. Numerous hearings on various aspects of the issue have been organised, some in cooperation with the EU Commission and other committees. The committee members also undertook several fact-finding missions to European cities such as Milan, Barcelona and Vienna to gain a first-hand impression of the problems and possible solutions. The rapporteur responsible, Borja Giménez Larraz (EPP, Spain), now presented a first draft of his report.
Starting point and role of the EU
According to the draft report, purchasing prices have risen by an average of 48 per cent over the past eight years, while rents have risen by 18 per cent. Housing costs account for up to 40 per cent of the income of many households. The report identifies the imbalance between supply and demand as the main cause of the price increase. However, it is considered that price controls and market interventions would be ineffective as they would create uncertainty and hinder the expansion of supply even further. Illegal squatting and rent evasion are also regarded as problems.
In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, the EU is urged to primarily remove obstacles, facilitate investment, and create better framework conditions. At the strategic and coordination level, an EU housing summit and an annual EU housing report are called for. At the local and regional level, direct support for municipalities should lead to the development of locally adapted solutions.
Key areas for action
To increase supply, it is suggested that building permits are expedited, spatial planning is simplified, and building land is mobilised. Streamlining EU requirements should also help to reduce construction costs. The rapporteur also aims to enhance property protection. Training and further education, skilled worker mobility, and strengthening SMEs should facilitate implementation. To secure the necessary financial resources, incentives for investors should be increased, public-private partnerships for large-scale projects should be established, and funds from the Cohesion Policy and the European Investment Bank (EIB) should be mobilised.
On the demand side, the rapporteur wants to support young people in particular (e.g. through tax breaks, low-interest loans or guarantees for first-time buyers), systemically important occupational groups, single parents and large families, and homeless people (strengthening the relevant EU platform). In addition, the data situation in the EU is to be improved, including on the impact of short-term rentals on property prices. In short, the draft report focuses on facilitating the expansion of supply and supporting particularly affected groups.
Critical voices and gaps
The S&D Group in the EU Parliament is particularly disappointed with the first draft report. A press release states: " The committee has spent months consulting experts and stakeholders in interesting hearings, and missions to EU member states. Members received a lot of valuable input and ideas - yet these are unfortunately not reflected in the draft. [...] The process so far demonstrates a blatant disregard for the working methods and ethos of this House." The Greens in the EU Parliament have drawn up their own position paper on affordable and sustainable housing in the EU. At the beginning of October, they held an event at the EU Parliament with numerous stakeholders to discuss their expectations of the affordable housing plan. Among them were Michaela Kauer (Vienna House in Brussels) and Thomas Kattnig (EESC), two renowned experts from Austria.
In fact, the draft report overemphasises the interests of the construction industry, financial actors and landlords. It also gives the impression that the report is influenced by national observations. For example, the squatting mentioned in the draft report can hardly be considered a pan-European problem. In contrast, crucial issues such as the right to housing, the participatory and public-benefit-oriented design of the sector, including sustainable financing models, and questions of inclusive urban development are largely omitted. Energy efficiency, which is an important issue in view of the climate crisis, also plays only a minor role. The broad topics of financialisation, speculation, vacancy rates and transparency in the real estate sector are not mentioned at all.
AK’s Position and next steps
At the beginning of the legislative period, AK already took a position on the challenges of the housing crisis at EU level with a set of key demands. As part of a consultation launched by the EU Commission on the revision of EU state aid law, a detailed position on the revision of the SGEI rules (services of general economic interest) as a measure to tackle the housing crisis was published in the summer. In it, AK calls for an exemption for social, limited-profit and affordable housing construction and for support for this through appropriate funding instruments from the European Investment Bank (EIB).
Amendments to the draft report will be tabled in the EU Parliament in the coming weeks. The vote in the special committee is expected in February, and the vote in plenary in March 2026. Commissioner Jørgensen is expected to present his plan quickly. At the event in the EU Parliament, he once again highlighted the seriousness of the problem. Initial details of the proposals suggest that they will have a serious political impact: in addition to a relaxation of state aid rules, which will help Member States with affordable housing, the proposals are expected to include measures to regulate speculation and financialisation. Furthermore, steps will be taken to ensure that housing built with public funds is genuinely affordable.
Further information:
EU Commission: 2025 State of the Union Address by President von der Leyen
EU Parliament: Draft report on the housing crisis in the European Union
EU Parliament: Mission Report following the HOUS mission to Vienna
Socialists and Democrats: EU housing draft report unacceptable for S&Ds
The Greens/EFA: Affordable, sustainable and decent housing for all
EESC: EESC calls for a European Affordable Housing Plan | EESC
POLITICO: Living Cities – A peek at the EU’s Affordable Housing Plan
AK EUROPA: Housing crisis in Europe. What can the EU do to solve it?
AK EUROPA: List of demands – social issues and affordable housing