Brussels’ upcoming plan to take on the EU’s housing crisis will include measures curbing real estate speculation, Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen announced Monday.
“There is no room in Europe for selfish speculation on a basic need like our homes,” the commissioner said at a high-level conference on housing affordability in Copenhagen, stressing the need to tackle the “financialization” of the EU’s housing stock.
According to Eurostat, home prices across the EU have shot up nearly 60 percent since 2010, while rental costs have increased nearly 30 percent. Experts attribute the spike to the dramatic slowdown in public housing construction, and to the marked uptick in speculative practices in urban areas where affordable housing stock has shrunk.
Jørgensen confirmed the EU’s first-ever plan to take on the crisis — which is expected to be unveiled later this year — will include a revision of state aid rules, allowing national governments to use public funds to build homes for middle-class Europeans priced out of the market.
As public cash alone will be insufficient, the commissioner explained these funds will need to be combined with private investment. Stressing that such investments need to “balance steady returns with social responsibility,” he said the Commission was working with the European Investment Bank and other financial institutions to ensure homes built through public-private schemes are genuinely affordable.
In addition to measures aimed at slashing byzantine EU and national rules delaying the construction of new homes, Jørgensen announced the upcoming plan will also target short-term rentals.
The conversion of housing stock into tourist flats is seen as a major factor in rising costs, with authorities moving to ban these properties altogether in places like Barcelona. The commissioner vowed to address the “complex” issue “firmly but fairly.”
“This crisis presents a defining test for our European democracy,” Jørgensen said. ” It is a fight we cannot afford to lose.”
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