In 2019 and 2020, the European citizens’ initiative Housing for All gained the support of tens of thousands of European citizens. The European Parliament became aware of it and picked up the Initiative’s core demands:

·         Access to affordable housing must not be restricted by the EU! Affordable housing must be equally available to all citizens in Europe!

·         Investments by local authorities in affordable housing must be exempted from the Maastricht criteria in order to enable sustainable and long-term public investment.

·         Non-profit housing developers must receive funding on improved terms from the European Investment Bank when they invest their profits in the construction and renovation of affordable housing!

·         Short-term rentals must be regulated at a European level in such a way, that they have no competitive advantage over traditional accommodation establishments and the housing market is not artificially scarce!

·         Data on housing must be standardised throughout Europe, collected on a small scale and locally in order to present the housing situation in a timely and realistic manner. In this way, grievances can be recognised and remedied in good time.

On January 21st, the European Parliament adopted the report “on access to decent and affordable housing for all” by rapporteur MEP Kim van Sparrentak. You can find the adopted text here. We are happy to announce that our work so far has paid off, as it echoes exactly what the initiative demanded:

Housing needs to be more accessible, funded better and distributed more fairly!

Now that the voice of the people is being heard via the citizens’ initiative and the now adopted text in parliament, it is time for the European Commission in Brussels to act on that report. Support us by calling the Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, to action by sending an email to CAB-SCHMIT-ARCHIVES@ec.europa.eu.

1.       Copy the text of the email below

2.       Fill in your name at the end

3.       Hit send

4.       Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on our initiative!

Re: Make housing decent and affordable for all!

Dear Commissioner Schmit,

I am writing with regards to the concerns raised by rapporteur van Sparrentak’s report on decent and affordable housing, which recently has been adopted. The report has emphasised that many Europeans are living in unhealthy, low quality, energy-poor, or overcrowded spaces, with many facing evictions and homelessness, aggravated by the ongoing pandemic. Increasingly more households are overburdened by housing costs and deprived of housing. Housing deprivation is at the heart of poverty and social exclusion and closely linked with unemployment.

Many citizens were given a voice by the European Citizen’s Initiative “Housing for All”, and now the Parliament has agreed and stressed the urgency for a common housing strategy and now we ask of you to take the report to heart and to act accordingly. The housing crisis has been present for years and is now severely aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Improve housing conditions, create a framework that enables sustainable and long-term investments into housing, regulate short-term rentals to prevent further extraction of housing stock from the market. Please help not only me but all the EU’s citizens to put a roof over our head and to maintain it.

Help us better our future!

Yours sincerely,

[Your name]

Thank you so much for your support and let's keep on fighting for housing for all!