Housing Crisis in the European Union

This resource, “Housing Crisis in the European Union”, is a 2025 factsheet/policy briefing produced by the European Parliament (Fact Sheets on the European Union). The authors are listed as Lina Sasse and Hannah Talita Berz. It compiles key figures and summarises the EU-level legal basis, policy objectives, and recent initiatives related to affordability, homelessness, and the decarbonisation of Europe’s building stock.

The factsheet highlights that the housing crisis is intensifying across Europe, with around 10% of EU households spending 40% or more of their income on housing (housing cost overburden). It frames housing policy as primarily a national competence, while emphasising that EU action is shaped by internal market rules, social policy, cohesion policy, and environmental and energy standards. The document links housing conditions to broader concerns such as social exclusion, poverty, and public health.

EU action is situated within Article 3(3) of the Treaty on European Union and several Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provisions (including Articles 9, 14, 148, 153, 160 and 168), alongside Protocol No 26 on services of general interest. The Charter of Fundamental Rights is cited, in particular Article 34(3), which recognises the right to social and housing assistance to ensure a decent existence for people without sufficient resources. The factsheet also notes the relevance of public health objectives, given the links between housing quality and physical and mental well-being.

The EU’s housing-related objectives are described through goals of economic, social, and territorial cohesion and the fight against social exclusion. Access to decent housing is presented as fundamental to social protection and inclusion. The text underlines that EU instruments aim to support adequate housing conditions, address homelessness, and improve housing affordability, while reflecting diverse needs across Member States.

A central pillar is the European Pillar of Social Rights (2017), which includes Principle 19 on the right to housing and assistance for people experiencing homelessness, including protection against forced evictions and access to shelter and services. The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan (2021) sets targets for 2030, including reducing poverty and supporting the aim of eradicating homelessness by 2030. It also introduced the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness (Lisbon Declaration, 2021) and points to funding instruments such as the European Social Fund Plus and InvestEU.

The factsheet connects affordability and living conditions with the EU’s energy transition. It states that buildings account for about 40% of EU energy consumption and that around 75% of the building stock has poor energy performance. The Renovation Wave strategy (launched in 2020 under the European Green Deal) aims to improve energy efficiency, tackle energy poverty, and double annual renovation rates by 2030, with the goal of a fully decarbonised building stock by 2050. It references the New European Bauhaus initiative (launched in 2021) and its affordable housing initiative, including pilots to renovate 100 “lighthouse districts” by 2030.

The document notes the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (signed 24 April 2024, in force May 2024), which sets zero-emission standards for new buildings by 2030 (and new public buildings by 2028) and establishes EU-wide minimum energy performance standards, with requirements for Member State support and social impact monitoring.

In the Commission’s Political Guidelines 2024–2029, housing is elevated institutionally: a Commissioner portfolio combining housing and energy is referenced, alongside a Housing Task Force and a Commissioners Project Group. The first European Affordable Housing Plan is expected in early 2026. The factsheet also reports that on 6 March 2025, the European Investment Bank and the Commission laid foundations for a pan-European investment platform intended to expand financing for affordable and sustainable housing. It adds that cohesion policy for 2021–2027 already allocates EUR 7.5 billion for improving the housing sector, with a commitment to enable Member States to double planned cohesion-policy investments in affordable housing.

Parliamentary resolutions are summarised, including a 2020 resolution on maximising energy efficiency in the building stock and a 2021 resolution calling for an EU framework for national homelessness strategies and urgent action on housing cost overburden. The factsheet also highlights EU work on the impacts of short-term rentals, including a regulation on data collection and sharing for short-term accommodation rental services agreed in 2023 and signed in April 2024, intended to increase transparency and support evidence-based local policymaking.