High time to achieve decent housing for everyone
Decent, sustainable and affordable housing is a cornerstone of a person's life, the EU's prosperity and competitiveness and social cohesion across the Union. Renew Europe therefore welcomes today's adoption of Parliament's own initiative report to tackle the housing crisis. We have made sure the European Parliament supports measures to make it easier to build, smarter to invest and fairer to access affordable housing across borders.
For Renew Europe, our priorities on how to solve the housing crisis are clear. We are committed to an ambitious and fair housing policy. One that leads to sustainable and affordable houses. One that serves our citizens and leads to social justice and also incentivises markets to building more homes.
Brigitte van den Berg (D66/Netherlands) has negotiated the content on the report on behalf of Renew Europe. She says:
"I believe in a Europe where finding a home is a right, not a privilege. I want a credible housing strategy to set out concrete measures to boost supply so that we can build more. I want it to lower energy bills and achieve our climate goals. And I want it to allow young people to be in charge of their own lives and living conditions. While Europe may not build your house, it can make building houses easier and cheaper. By creating an internal market for production materials, ensuring skilled workers can work anywhere in our Union, and cutting red tape."
Background:
One-in-ten urban households in the EU spends over 40 percent of its income on housing. From 2010 until 2025, rents increased by nearly 30 percent and house prices increased by over 60 percent. Meanwhile, building permits for residential properties have fallen by more than 20 percent since 2021, and housing and utility costs surged by around 18 percent in 2022, set against average wage growth of just 4.4 percent.
