The EU is preparing legislation for housing, with 43 billion euros allocated and rules for short-term rentals.

The European Union has already allocated 43 billion euros for investments in housing under the current multiannual financial framework and is preparing a new legislative package that will include rules regarding short-term rentals, said Dan Jørgensen, the European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, during a hearing in the European Parliament.

In short

The EU has allocated 43 billion euros for housing through the current budget, cohesion funds, and InvestEU.

An Affordable Housing Act is in preparation and will include measures regarding short-term rentals.

Approximately 20% of the housing in the EU is unoccupied, according to data presented by the commissioner.

Local authorities will receive flexible tools to manage pressured markets.

In front of the MEPs, Dan Jørgensen described the housing crisis as structural, fueled by insufficient supply, low productivity in the construction sector, a lack of skilled labor, and rising costs. He emphasized that public funding alone is not enough and that mobilizing private capital through coordinated European instruments is necessary.

A central element of the presented plan is the creation of a European investment platform for housing, developed together with the European Investment Bank and national promotional banks. According to the commissioner, every euro invested at the European level can generate significantly larger volumes of capital in the market.

The issue of short-term rentals dominated the exchange of views with the Parliament. Dan Jørgensen confirmed that he will present a legislative proposal this year that will not prohibit these practices but will allow member states and local authorities to limit their negative impact in areas with housing pressure. Among the tools considered are caps on rented nights, differentiation between professional and non-professional hosts, and adapted regimes for student accommodation.

The data presented by the commissioner shows that approximately 20% of the European housing stock is unoccupied, which has generated cautious reactions from some MEPs, who pointed out the differences between urban and rural areas. In this context, Jørgensen announced a European analysis on real estate speculation and the lack of comparable data at the member state level.

In parallel, the commissioner indicated that the European executive is working on measures to facilitate the mobility of skilled workers and construction materials within the EU and to reduce the administrative burden affecting construction and renovation projects.

The plan presented by Dan Jørgensen is set to be complemented by the report of the European Parliament and interinstitutional negotiations in the coming months. The initiatives are part of the discussions regarding the next multiannual budget of the EU and reflect the increasingly active role of the Union in areas traditionally managed at the national level, such as housing policy.

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