Commissioner Jørgensen, in Italy we have welcomed the creation of a Directorate-General dedicated to housing, as well as the launch of the European Housing Plan — both crucial steps in addressing a crisis that now affects the entire continent. In your assessment, what are the main structural drivers of Europe’s housing crisis?

The main driver is the mismatch between supply and demand of housing. We estimated that we need to build 650.000 more homes every year to address the current demand. Delivering those extra housing units would require investments of about EUR 150 bn annually, but we actually see that investments are declining.

And the reason why we are not building enough is that construction costs are high, innovation and skilled labour are lacking, and red tape is excessive. At the same time, we are not using our existing buildings in an efficient way: around 20% of dwellings are unoccupied!

Also crucially, we do not have enough social housing and its share is declining.

Another issue is that short-term rental activity grew nearly doubled between 2018 and 2024. In some neighbourhoods and tourism hotspots, the share of short-term rentals can represent up to 20%, creating housing stress to the local population.

What does this all mean for Europeans?Since 2013, prices increased by more than 60% across the EU, growing faster than household income. Average rents also increased even than less than prices (around 20%), with new rents having increased significantly more. In some EU countries, including Italy, people live with their parents until the age of 30 or more.

For too long we have overlooked this situation. For too long housing has been treated just as another commodity, instead of a basic right. And we are now facing a real social crisis

You have described this as the “first real European housing policy” and framed the housing crisis not simply as a market failure, but as a profound social crisis that threatens social cohesion and even Europe’s competitiveness. Are we witnessing a genuine paradigm shift in the Union’s approach — one in which housing finally becomes a strategic political priority, comparable to climate policy or the digital transition? More concretely, how will the Plan translate this ambition into tangible action? And will its implementation — through legislative and financial instruments — firmly establish housing as a fundamental right in Europe, with all the corresponding implications for public policy?

Indeed, housing policy has not traditionally been an area of EU competence. The fact that we now have a European Commissioner responsible for it, and a European Plan for affordable housing marks a paradigm shift. It shows an unprecedented level of political momentum and commitment to lean into this issue and bring concrete solutions to our citizens.

Our Plan is comprehensive and ambitious. It is something the EU has never done before. But, of course, Brussels cannot solve this crisis alone. For us this Plan is not the finishing line. It is rather the starting point for joint efforts with Member States, regions, cities and stakeholders.

What we are doing more concretely is taking action ourselves in the areas where we can, and where the EU can bring added value: investments, cutting red tape to accelerate housing supply and clearer rules for short-term rentals.

We also want to steer reforms, tackle speculation and help the people that are most affected by the crisis: young people and homeless people in particular.

But of course, a big chunk of the work lies with the authorities that have the primary competence for housing and know their local realities. Mayors are key actors in this respect.

Let me stress that at the European level, we are doing and will continue doing everything we can to support that work. The clear message that I want to send with this Plan is: Europe needs to take responsibility collectively and deliver effective solutions to citizens that are struggling to pay the rent, buy or even find a decent house. This Plan is our call for joint action.

The Plan announces initiatives addressing short-term rentals, housing vacancy and the supply of affordable housing, with particular attention to students, essential workers. and low-income families. Could you outline the concrete tools the Commission intends to introduce on these particular sections? In particular, what practical regulatory and operational instruments will be made available to mayors and local administrations to manage short-term rentals?

For all these issues our Plan outlines a set of different actions. First, we need to maximise the efficient use of existing buildings. Renovating, repurposing and bringing vacant properties back into use is key, and both national and local authorities have a key role to play here. From the EU side, we will provide the tools to regulate short-term rentals where they compete with long-term housing use.

On this particular issue, I want us to give local authorities the right tools for them to address the negative impacts of short-term rentals while preserving the benefits. We will help them identify areas under housing stress and set out measures they can take. There are various ways to do it. Examples of these measures could be a maximum number of nights rented per year, or to limit rentals to the summer season while renting to students for the rest of the year. Local authorities could also temporarily halt new short-term rentals approvals in central neighborhoods, and require approval from operators who want to rent out places commercially for touristic purposes.

Let me be clear: I am not going to ban short-term rentals. We are not blaming them for causing the housing crisis! It’s much more complex than that. Short-term rentals also have benefits for our society in terms of tourism, an incentive to invest in renovation, and an additional revenue for families. But it is clear that in specific areas, they can also aggravate the housing crisis.

To tackle the missing supply, we will need to build more and faster. This is why we will cut red tape. This starts from the municipalities, regional and national authorities. But we will also play our part via a Housing Simplification package that we plan to propose next year.The Construction Strategy we presented along the Plan in December will also help by bringing more innovation in modern methods of construction, and unleashing training and apprenticeship opportunities for workers in the construction sector. It is of utmost importance that we don’t only build more, but that we also build better: we are trying to spur a shift towards decarbonised and biobased materials, and we want to reduce waste, recycle more, improve energy efficiency and create energy communities that can hugely contribute to lowering accommodation costs for our citizens.

On students and young people let me say a few words: the future generations are among those most impacted by this crisis. This is why we foresee a set of actions specifically addressed to them. Through the InvestEU programme, Cohesion Policy Funding and the Pan-European Investment Platform, we will support efforts to build more student housing. Also, we plan to present soon a pilot scheme under the Erasmus+ program to increase the availability of affordable and innovative housing solutions for mobile students from disadvantaged backgrounds. On this, we will partner with cities and stakeholders across the entire Union. We also want to help students, trainees and apprentices to find housing on the private rental market. For this, together with the EIB, we are assessing the feasibility of a guarantee scheme to reduce or even eliminate the need for a security deposit. If we work together across all institutions and cities in Europe, we can make a true difference for our young generations.

The Commission estimates that at least €150 billion per year will be required to meet Europe’s housing needs. While the Plan foresees a pan-European investment platform and the mobilisation of existing EU funds, it does not yet include a dedicated European Housing Fund. Meanwhile, the Mayors for Housing alliance has called for a substantial increase in affordable housing financing directly accessible to cities, as well as for the creation of a specific European fund in the next EU budget. Commissioner, how will the Commission ensure that the financial resources mobilised truly match the scale of the challenge? What role could the European Investment Bank play? And could Europe’s common borrowing capacity — following the experience of the Next Generation EU programme — be used to support these policies? Finally, how will you guarantee that these funds are directly and effectively accessible to Europe’s cities, which are on the front line of the housing crisis?

The EU is already strongly engaged in supporting affordable housing. More than €43 billion of EU funding is currently being invested in housing through cohesion policy, InvestEU, NextGenerationEU and other programmes, with additional resources expected in 2026 and 2027. But I agree this will not be enough to meet Europe’s housing needs. The EU budget is limited: it can crowd in investment and provide targeted grants, yet it cannot cover the full investment gap of Member States, especially in an area like housing, where competences are primarily national and local. We need to mobilise all levels of government together with private investors.

This is why we revised State aid rules to enable more investments into affordable housing, and we aim to attract more public and private capital through the Pan-European Investment Platform for Affordable and Sustainable Housing, bringing together the European Investment Bank, the Council of Europe Development Bank, national promotional banks and private investors. There is a lot of funding available out there, National and regional promotional banks for example aim to invest 375bn for housing until 2029. What we need to do is to better match these opportunities with the needs of cities. This is what the platform will do.

As for the next MFF, it is true that we do not envisage a dedicated EU housing fund but housing will be for the first time a clear priority of the EU budget. With the National and Regional Partnership Plans that are at the heart of the Commission proposal, our aim is to ensure maximum flexibility so that investments can be tailored to local priorities and reforms. Cities will have a key role to play in designing and implementing the plans.

You have stated that housing remains primarily a national competence, yet that Europe must “lead and coordinate.” However, several Member States — including Italy — still lack a comprehensive and structural housing strategy.

What instruments does the Commission intend to use to ensure that Member States assume their responsibilities?

At the same time, many cities are concerned about being sidelined if the dialogue remains limited to EU institutions and national governments. How does the Commission plan to establish a direct, structured and permanent partnership with cities in shaping and implementing Europe’s housing policy?

The way I see it is that cities, mayors and local stakeholders must be on the front line in the fight against the housing crisis! I have been engaging with mayors from major European cities since the very beginning of my mandate as first-ever Housing Commissioner – precisely because this crisis is characterised differently in every place. So, if we want to be effective, we need to tie solutions to the local realities.

I am committedto keep up this engagement with local authorities in the months and years ahead and I very much count of the support of mayors to deliver on our actions. You are the closest to your citizens. You are the ones who know best which of the solutions we propose can best serve you.

Following the launch of the Plan, I am now touring across the EU to make sure we engage in frank and open discussions on what is needed the most and to translate our plans and ambitions into reality.

For too long EU-level cooperation on housing policy has been limited, leaving opportunities to coordinate actions, share best practice, and progress towards common objectives largely untapped. We will soon launch a new European Housing Alliance to unite all levels of government – from cities and regions to national and European institutions, together with key housing stakeholders – to drive forward a shared commitment to ensure affordable, sustainable and quality housing for all. I am confident that this Alliance will serve as a hub for cooperation, mutual learning, and the exchange of best practice across Europe, shaping a new way of working on housing at EU level and connecting with the grassroots.

And later this year, we will organise the first-ever EU Housing Summit. We will organise it together with the European Council, bringing together all key actors on housing at the highest political level. This will be another key opportunity for European politicians to demonstrate to their citizens that we are taking responsibility to make a real change in their lives. The housing crisis will not wait. The time to act is now.