Special committee set up on EU housing crisis to monitor short-term lettings

The European Parliament decided to set up a special committee named ‘Special Committee on the Housing Crisis in the European Union’ with the aim of proposing solutions for decent, sustainable, and affordable housing, and that committee shall carry out, in cooperation and consultation with the competent standing committees where their powers and responsibilities under Annex VI of the Rules of Procedure are concerned, the following responsibilities:

(a) to map current housing needs across territories and population groups, particularly low and middle-income groups, and to assess the impact of scarcity of housing on inequalities, affordability, demography, poverty, and social exclusion, including using existing gender-disaggregated data;

(b) to analyze the existing relevant Union, national, regional, and local housing policies with a focus on the availability of targeted instruments for social, sustainable, and affordable housing in cities, islands, and coastal and rural areas with a view to identifying and issuing recommendations, including policies dedicated to housing accessibility of people with disabilities, and reduced mobility;

(c) to analyze the impact of housing speculation and its economic consequences, as well as to propose follow-up actions;

(d) to assess whether the trend in house prices and rents is adequately taken into account in the cost of living indicators and related policies,

(e) to map and assess the effectiveness of public and private Union and national resources, including existing Union funds dedicated to decent, sustainable and affordable housing and to the eradication of homelessness and to make recommendations, where relevant;

(f) to analyze systemic issues with short-term accommodation rentals on the availability of affordable housing in particularly affected areas and to make relevant proposals;

(g) to monitor the implementation of the Union legislation on data collection and sharing relating to short-term accommodation rental services, which has to be adopted at a national level by 20 May 2026;

(h) to analyze the effects of Union policies that influence the availability and affordability of housing, including bottlenecks in current Union regulations with regard to investment capacity, to housing and social housing, state aid, and supply chain shortages;

(i) to assess potential barriers affecting the construction sector and their impact on the housing crisis;

(j) to identify shortages in availability, sustainability, and financing needs for affordable housing and the need for potential reforms;

(k) to assess the impact of non-profit and limited-profit housing solutions, such as social or cooperative housing, on the affordability and accessibility of housing for different groups;

(l) to assess policies and legislative proposals needed to improve the provision and availability of decent, sustainable and affordable housing, including by enabling new construction, housing reconversion, and renovation programs, taking into consideration the potential of vacant buildings;

(m) to map innovative technologies, processes, services, and products to support the renovation wave, taking into account existing Union initiatives; to map where administrative and regulatory burdens are hampering the renovation wave, with the aim of reducing unnecessary regulatory burden while ensuring quality work in the construction sector and quality standards for affordable housing;

(n) to contribute to the development and the future implementation of the European affordable housing plan and the European strategy for housing construction to be presented by the Commission;

(o) to conduct hearings with experts from the Union institutions and competent authorities, international, national, and regional institutions, non-governmental organizations, and relevant sectors of the economy, taking into account the perspectives of a range of stakeholders;

(p) to conduct visits to study best practices around Europe;

The European Parliament also decided that the special committee shall have 33 members, that the term of office of the special committee shall be 12 months, and that its term shall start running from the date of its constituent meeting and instructs the special committee to present a final report at the end of its term of office focusing on the abovementioned matters.

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