A home is much more than a roof over your head. It is where you live, share your life with family and friends, make memories, care for loved ones, relax after a long day, and feel safe. However, for many Europeans – especially tenants and first-time buyers – renting or owning a decent home has become harder than ever.
Between 2010 and 2024, house prices in the EU increased by 55.4% and rents by 26.7%. These figures vary significantly across Member States, with house prices more than tripling in Hungary and Estonia. Rents saw their highest increases in Estonia (+212%), Lithuania (+175%), and Hungary (+114%). As a result of these rising costs, low-income households are spending nearly 40% of their income on housing. The crisis is also marked by overcrowding, with approximately 16% of the EU-27 population living in overcrowded housing in 2023 and 19.2 million people experiencing severe housing deprivation.
The S&D Group is committed to making Europe fair and just. We believe a decent home is a fundamental right for all, not a privilege for a few. This is why we call for an EU Affordable Housing Plan to:
- Increase and improve EU funding for homes: We demand a major boost in EU funding for affordable, decent housing that should be a catalyst for additional public and private investments, calling for €300 billion in total, with €100 billion in grants.
- Regulate short-term rentals: The unchecked rise of platforms has become a major housing market disruptor. Europe needs quick action and a clear legal framework to address the growing short-term rental crisis and restore balance to housing markets in respect of local needs and subsidiarity.
- Reform state aid: We call for a change of the EU rules on state aid and public services, so that they support housing access for low- and middle-income earners.
- Stop housing speculation: We want to adapt financial regulation and explore banning overseas purchases of real estate and find ways to protect residents within the EU.
- Tenants’ rights protection: To protect tenants against unreasonable rent increases, illegal evictions, and predatory leases, we call for a ban on the eviction of families and demand the establishment of a legal framework that guarantees transparent, fair, and long-term stable and secure rental contracts.
- Sustainable homes for all: Fighting climate change is a common endeavour, financial tools and support for renovations must be fully updated to help everyone, not just the privileged. We call for a new EU Renovation Loan to fund the EU Renovation Wave, with clear social criteria.
- Focus on specific groups: The housing crisis hits some groups of people harder. That is why we call for an end to homelessness and support for young people, notably by banning discrimination against homeless people EU-wide by establishing the Housing First approach as the standard across all EU Member States; and mapping the regional and local best practices regarding housing initiatives for young Europeans, such as the first-time-buyer-initiatives, and implement them as flagships in the Affordable Housing Plan.
- Enable Member States to invest in housing: We propose a bold rethink of the Stability and Growth Pact to allow Member States to invest in decent, affordable housing without it counting against public deficit limits. Housing must be a strategic public investment, not a budgetary burden.
- Break harmful tax rules: We call for appropriate action after a thorough review of how tax incentives – such as property taxes, ‘Golden Visa’ schemes, and tax breaks for investors – affect housing affordability and fairness across the EU, including by driving up prices and fuelling inequality and homelessness.
Find out more in the S&D Group's Position Paper on Housing
1. Introduction
2. A home is a human right
3. More public investment in decent, affordable and sustainable homes
4. An end to speculation
5. Time for EU action on short-term rentals
6. Building more and better homes for low- and middle-income earners
7. A home for everyone
8. Supporting rural and depopulated areas, islands and outermost regions
9. Sustainable and healthy homes
