Renew Europe: More homes, lower bills, fairer rents
Renew Europe welcomes today’s Affordable Housing Act package as an important step towards tackling Europe’s housing crisis, but says the new rules must form part of a broader drive to increase housing supply and bring down costs.
The proposed framework would give national, regional and local authorities greater legal certainty to act in areas facing severe housing pressure. It establishes common criteria for identifying areas under housing stress and clarifies how authorities can introduce proportionate measures addressing short-term rentals and other non-primary uses of residential property.
Renew Europe supports giving communities effective tools to respond to local pressures, while ensuring that interventions are evidence based, proportionate and subject to review.
However, managing demand will not solve the housing crisis on its own. Europe must make it quicker and easier to build and renovate homes, bring vacant and derelict properties back into use and mobilise public and private investment to increase supply.
Ciarán Mullooly MEP (Independent, Ireland), Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the Housing Crisis, said:
“Finding somewhere affordable to live has become one of the biggest barriers facing young Europeans. Today’s proposal gives cities and regions greater clarity about what they can do when short-term rentals and other pressures are making homes unaffordable.
These measures must be fair, proportionate and based on clear evidence. But managing demand is only part of the answer. We also need to build more homes, bring vacant properties back into use and help people overcome the immediate barriers to finding somewhere to live.
Ahead of the State of the Union, President von der Leyen should set out practical measures that Europeans can feel in their pockets. That could include an EIB-backed First Keys Guarantee so young people renting their first home do not have to find thousands of euros upfront for a security deposit.”
Renew Europe has consistently called for a European housing policy focused on increasing supply, simplifying planning and permitting, mobilising private and public investment, expanding EIB-backed financing, bringing vacant and derelict buildings back into use and reducing housing costs for citizens.
These priorities have also guided Renew Europe’s work in the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the Housing Crisis. Renew Europe calls on the Commission, Member States and local authorities to use today’s package to deliver more affordable, energy-efficient homes in the communities that need them most.
