On the eve of the ministerial meeting initiated by the French Presidency of the Council which will bring together the 27 housing ministers in Nice, Confrontations Europe organised, in partnership with Housing Europe, the International Union of Tenants (IUT), FEANTSA a conference dedicated to the future of the EU housing policy. Following the debates, all partners published 10 recommandations for a clear commitment to boost public investment in the sector at the EU level.
On March 8th, Housing Ministers will gather. This meeting is a welcome initiative and marks the re-establishment of regular meetings of the Directors for Housing and Construction of EU Member States (Housing Focal Points) and Informal Ministerial Meetings on Housing.
While the European Pillar of Social Rights proclaims that “access to social housing shall be provided for those in need”, and the European Parliament promotes access for decent and affordable housing for all, in reality for a growing number of citizens, including middle-income groups, accessing decent, affordable and adequate housing has become more difficult than ever.
All this could be different if the EU and all national governments commit to increasing support to supply affordable, social, cooperative and public housing. This is the key finding of the EU Urban Agenda action plan for affordable housing. Already before COVID, the investment gap stood at a minimum of €57 billion yearly.
Any successful approach requires true cooperation between national, regional and local levels of governance as well as with cities, tenants and homeowners.
Other success factors for more effective affordable housing policies across the region have been identified by the UNECE in collaboration with Housing Europe and UN-Habitat in the #Housing2030 initiative.
Housing Europe, the International Union of Tenants (IUT), Eurocities, FEANTSA, Confrontations Europe, and CEMR have put together a 10-point plan to feed the Ministers’ discussions.
