Rentals on Airbnb and Booking, in the eyes of the EU. Commissioner aims to solve 'huge problem in many cities'
The community block's first plan on affordable housing will cover issues such as tenants' rights, real estate speculation and tourist rentals.
The European Commission will propose rules to tackle the “huge problem” of short-term rentals through platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, in an attempt to deal with the “social crisis” of people struggling to afford a home, the first housing commissioner in the EU's history announced, writes The Guardian on Wednesday.
In an interview with the British newspaper and other European publications, Dan Jorgensen said that it is time for decision-makers in Brussels to take the issue of housing seriously, otherwise they will have to give way to anti-EU populists, who, according to him, have no solutions to the problem of the lack of affordable housing.
“If we, as policymakers, do not take this issue seriously and recognize that it is a social problem that needs action, then … the anti-EU populists will win,” he said, adding that Brussels “has so far failed to address” some of the key elements of the housing crisis.
Jorgensen, a Danish social democrat, has been tasked with drawing up the EU's first affordable housing plan, due to be made public in December.
He said the publication of the plan was brought forward from the original deadline of 2026, citing the urgency of the “social crisis”.
Brussels has traditionally refrained from setting housing policy, but Jorgensen insisted it was a matter for the EU. “The future housing plan will cover areas where it is very clear that (housing) is a European competence and where we have failed to meet our obligations so far… One of these areas is short-term letting, where we need more European rules,” said Commissioner Jorgensen.
Short-term accommodation, i.e. rentals made through Airbnb and other similar platforms, has seen rapid growth in European cities in recent years. This type of accommodation, which is very popular, is considered to be the main factor that has led to the increase in the price of rents, which has forced locals to leave the historic centers and turned residential neighborhoods into tourist areas.
Jorgensen said short-term rentals are “a huge problem in many cities,” but did not name specific sites or detail any proposals.
Housing has become a “commodity”
Concerns about short-term rentals have come amid a general increase in the price of rents and mortgages. Between 2010 and 2023, house prices in the EU rose by 48% and rents by 22%, during a period when inflation rose by 36%, according to the EU's statistics agency, Eurostat. Some renters and potential buyers faced much larger price increases: in the same period, rents in Estonia rose by 211%, in Lithuania by 169% and in Ireland by 98%.
By 2023, almost 9% of the EU population will have spent 40% or more of their net income on housing, including 29% of Greece's population, 15% of Denmark's population and 13% of Germany's.
Jorgensen, who is also tasked with reducing energy prices, said the EU's affordable housing plan would address the “financialization” of housing because “it's clear that when housing becomes a commodity, an object of speculation, without regard to the rest of society, that can of course cause problems.” He declined to discuss the details of the policy, but said the EU Executive is studying how member states have tried to eliminate or reduce the problem, such as requirements for developers to build a percentage of affordable housing.
Ursula von der Leyen's commission has some radical ideas to put into practice, which could test EU law. Spain plans to impose a 100% tax on the value of properties bought by non-EU residents, while Socialist MEPs want the EU Executive to consider banning the purchase of real estate by foreigners.
The European Commission, Jorgensen said, is also considering ways to better protect tenants' rights, as well as relaxing state aid rules to make it easier for governments to grant subsidies or tax breaks to real estate companies.
Ursula Von der Leyen set up the post of Housing Commissioner in 2024 to secure the votes of the Socialists in the European Parliament, needed to win a second term.
