Depaul International’s reaction to the EU Affordable Housing Plan
Depaul International welcomes the launch of the first-ever EU Affordable Housing Plan, and its explicit focus on ‘supporting the most affected’ and ‘addressing homelessness’. The EU is absolutely right to respond, and to propose ambitious action, on a crisis which sees at least 1.2 million people experiencing homelessness in Europe, over 40 million EU citizens being overburdened by housing costs, and homelessness rising in almost every EU Member State. This comes despite the unanimous commitment in 2021 by all Member States to end homelessness by 2030. Clearly, urgent action is warranted and we urge all Member States to heed the call from the EU to step up action for all those at risk ofor experiencing homelessness.
We warmly welcome the emphasis on mobilising new investment in social housing and housing-led solutions for people experiencing homelessness through the Pan-European Investment Platform, as well as the measures to facilitate sharing of good practice, building on the European Platform On Combatting Homelessness (EPOCH). We support the European Commission’s call for Member States to step up their investments in preventing and tackling homelessness, including through the new EU National and Regional Partnerships Plans under the next MFF. This represents a real opportunity, especially for Member States currently lacking social housing stock and housing-led homelessness services, to address these gaps.
While the emphasis on affordability within the plan is welcome, we are worried that the revised Decision on Services of General Economic Interest (‘SGEI Decision’), creating a new ‘affordable housing’ category separate from the existing ‘social housing’ category, could risk diverting vital funds from the most vulnerable low-income groups and those people experiencing homelessness. We urge Member States not to allow this to happen, and to view efforts to expand genuinely affordable housing as a parallel strategy for addressing the housing crisis that must sit alongside investment in social housing and services for the most vulnerable.
We welcome the legislative actions proposed to improve regulation of short-term rentals (STRs) in areas under housing stress, which together with speculation in housing markets pushes those most in need further to the margins, increasing homelessness and widening wealth inequality.
The new year brings unprecedented opportunities to tackle homelessness across Europe. We look forward to seeing this prioritised within the upcoming EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, the new European Housing Alliance, and at the first-ever EU Housing Summit. Depaul International stands ready to support European institutions and Member States to take decisive action to fulfil their commitment to ending homelessness.