May 14, 2025

The following is a press release:

With an opinion led by the Mayor of Barcelona Jaume Collboni, EU cities and regions are urging the European Commission to present an ambitious and very concrete European Affordable Housing Plan that supports their efforts to tackle the housing crisis affecting cities and regions across Europe. The opinion adopted at the European Committee of the Regions' plenary session today stresses that quality affordable housing must become an explicit goal in the next multiannual EU budget.

The European Commission has recognised the need to tackle the rise of housing prices and is expected to present the European Affordable Housing Plan in early 2026. However, regions and cities underline that as the housing challenge takes diverse forms across the EU and needs to be solved at local and regional level, their involvement in the preparation and implementation of the plan is essential.

As part of the recent mid-term review of cohesion policy, the Commission is highlighting the possibility for Member States to reprogramme part of their cohesion funds to affordable housing. While local and regional leaders welcomed the recognition of the extent of the housing crisis and the need for support from the EU level, they warned that shifting resources within cohesion policy alone will not solve the housing crisis and stressed that the fundamental role of cohesion policy in reducing economic, social and territorial inequalities must be respected and reinforced. Therefore, introducing new priorities in the next multiannual EU budget should be accompanied by adequate European funding.

Alongside cohesion funds, other resources and financing tools for investment in housing are needed and should primarily focus on boosting housing supply. The CoR encourages Member States to reallocate unclaimed resources from their national Recovery and Resilience Plans to financial instruments that support the construction of affordable housing units in partnership with local authorities. It also supports the objective of using EU resources to leverage private funds in cooperation with the European Investment Bank (EIB), calling for inclusive access for all territories and for cooperation with regional as well as national public investment banks, to effectively address the scale and diversity of the challenges.

The CoR argues that all public investments in affordable and social housing should be treated off-balance in the EU's economic governance, as they are essential for future and long-term societal well-being. The upcoming State aid reform should consider exemptions for the creation or renovation of affordable housing from state aid restrictions, increasing flexibility and simplification for social, public, cooperative and non-profit housing providers; that is, all models that promote housing affordability and the creation of socially mixed and integrated neighbourhoods.

Cities and regions also urge to tackle bottlenecks in existing EU regulations that fuel speculation and financialisation of housing markets and stress the importance of setting up a real estate transparency registry in the housing sector and providing tools for rent regulation at local level and ensuring the retention of land ownership by local authorities. Fully implementing the EU framework to regulate short-term rentals is also crucial, particularly as regards platforms’ obligations to comply with regional and local regulations and provide reliable data to local and regional authorities.

In line with the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the CoR believes that the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing and the European Commission Task-Force for Housing should be supported by an expert group that includes technical representatives from the CoR, the major European associations of local and regional authorities, European housing stakeholders and tenant organisations. This group should be consulted and regularly kept updated on the progress of the European Affordable Housing Plan.

Quotes:

Kata Tüttő, President of the European Committee of the Regions: "A home is not just a set of bricks stuck together. Having a home should also mean having dignity and security. The housing crisis is a fracture in the promise of cohesion. We must treat housing as a right, and work together to exchange practices on what works best on the ground.

I welcome the fact that affordable housing is becoming a priority at EU level. My message is simple: give us the right tools, financing and trust, and we will deliver. Cities, regions, municipalities hold the keys - and we need the EU to unlock the door."

Rapporteur Jaume Collboni Cuadrado (ES/PES), Mayor of Barcelona: “Access to housing has become the major factor of inequality in Europe. Cities are at the epicenter of the problem, and we want to be ground zero for the solution, so we are asking the EU to provide us with more funding and capacities to be able to respond to the needs of our inhabitants."

Irene Tinagli (S&D/IT), Chair of the Special Committee on the Housing Crisis in the European Union and Member of the European Parliament: "Cities and regions are on the front lines of the housing crisis. We urgently need a European Affordable Housing Plan that matches the scale of the challenge and puts people before profit. This must include new EU funding, full involvement of local authorities, and clear recognition that affordable housing is essential infrastructure for a just, cohesive and sustainable Europe.”

More information:

• On average, house prices went up by 48% and rents by 22% in the EU between 2010 and 2023. The development has been unequal across Member States, with biggest rises recorded in Estonia (+209% for house prices and +211% for rents). Big cities and touristic areas are also particularly impacted: 10.6% of Europeans living in cities struggle with excessive housing costs (representing more than 40% of their disposable income). See the Factsheet on housing with spotlight on Barcelona.

• Right after the adoption in the plenary, rapporteur Jaume Collboni presented the CoR opinion to the European Parliament's Special Committee on the Housing Crisis.

• Ensuring sustainable and affordable housing will be among the priorities of the CoR for the 2025-2030 term.

• Photos from the plenary session

Contact:

Lauri Ouvinen

Tel. +32 473536887

lauri.ouvinen@cor.europa.eu

home Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Youtube Flickr Instagram

The European Committee of the Regions

The European Committee of the Regions is the EU's assembly of regional and local representatives from all 27 Member States. Created in 1994 following the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, its mission is to involve regional and local authorities in the EU's decision-making process and to inform them about EU policies. The European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission consult the Committee in policy areas affecting regions and cities. To sit on the European Committee of the Regions, all of its 329 members and 329 alternates must either hold an electoral mandate or be politically accountable to an elected assembly in their home regions and cities. Click here for more details on your national delegation.