EU prepares bloc-wide plan to tackle housing "fever"

Illustration photo - Photo: Politico

The European Parliament's report on the "European Housing Crisis" was published in October. According to the European Parliament, housing becomes a real problem when a family spends at least 40% of their monthly income on rent or mortgage payments. And in fact, as of last year, 9.8% of people living in cities in the European Union had this problem.

The reason is obvious: both rental and purchase prices have increased significantly over the past several years. Over the past decade, average house prices in EU member states have increased by more than one and a half times (53.4%), with some countries, such as Hungary, where prices have increased by more than three times (209.5%) and Portugal, where prices have increased by more than two times (124.4%).

The Guardian in the UK recently cited statistics saying that from 2010 to 2023, house rents in European Union countries increased by 22%. In some places, the figure is much higher, for example, rents in Estonia increased by 211%.

Since the short-term rental service was born, many homeowners and investment companies have converted their rental form from long-term to short-term accommodation to gain more profits, which can be 2 to 3 times more per month.

Up to a quarter of short-stay nights in the European Union are now booked through online rental platforms, contributing to a shortage of affordable housing for both renters and buyers.

Managing housing prices is a national responsibility and some countries like Germany and France are worried about the EU getting too involved. But with prices soaring and public discontent growing, the issue of housing has been put on the agenda of both the European Council and the European Commission.

According to the Spanish newspaper El Pais, the European Union is considering three main directions. The first is to introduce a common regulation for short-term rental platforms, such as AirBnB. The second is to relax regulations on state subsidies, to help build and renovate affordable housing. The third is to transfer the bloc's unspent common fund to develop social housing. These contents can be announced soon in the "Affordable Housing" plan as early as December this year instead of next year as originally planned.

Source: https://vtv.vn/eu-chuan-bi-ke-hoach-toan-khoi-giai-quyet-con-sot-nha-o-100251103094540328.htm