{"id":464495,"date":"2026-09-09T16:38:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T14:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/09\/09\/lue-lancia-un-quadro-comune-contro-la-crisi-abitativa-possibile-stretta-agli-affitti-brevi\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T17:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:21:23","slug":"the-eu-launches-a-common-framework-to-tackle-the-housing-crisis-restrictions-on-short-term-lettings-may-be-introduced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/09\/09\/the-eu-launches-a-common-framework-to-tackle-the-housing-crisis-restrictions-on-short-term-lettings-may-be-introduced\/","title":{"rendered":"The EU launches a common framework to tackle the housing crisis. Restrictions on short-term lettings may be introduced"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 Housing crisis: what can be done? Responsibility for this matter remains with the individual Member States of the European Union, but the situation has become \u201cserious and urgent\u201d, and the Commission wishes to have its say. It is doing so through the Affordable Housing Act<\/a>, adopted today (9 September) by the College of Commissioners, which will be considered by the Parliament and the Council\u2014and is therefore subject to changes and amendments\u2014as part of the ordinary legislative procedure. The crux of the proposal lies in a set of criteria that will define the<\/strong> \u201careas under housing pressure,\u201d giving local authorities the option to introduce restrictions on short-term lettings<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

\u201c51 per cent<\/a>
\nof city residents consider the \u2018lack of affordable housing\u2019 an urgent and immediate problem,\u201d stated<\/a> today the European Commissioner for Energy, Dan J\u00f8rgensen<\/strong>, at the press conference to present the regulation. There is little more to add: \u201cWe are in the midst of a housing crisis<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cwe must take action.<\/strong>\u201d The problem is multifaceted: there are short-term lettings, but also the more general issue of high rents and the presence of too many empty houses and flats. <\/span>The issue of short-term rentals affects cities and popular tourist destinations, \u201cwhere pressure on the property market is greatest\u201d and where \u201cthe growing use of homes for purposes other than as a main residence can exacerbate the situation in terms of availability and affordability,\u201d the Commission explains. Beyond short-term rentals, however, it is the overall \u201cprice trend\u201d that is \u201crather worrying,\u201d according to J\u00f8rgensen. \u201c<\/span>The figures speak for themselves: over the last ten years, rents have risen by 59 per cent in Berlin, 75 per cent in Madrid and 103 per cent in Lisbon<\/strong>,\u201d he explained. This means \u201cthat ordinary people with normal jobs (such as nurses, teachers or police officers) are often unable to live where they work,\u201d he added. As well as prices, the lack of housing is also a cause for concern. According to the Commissioner, \u201cin some cities, between 20 and 30 per cent of homes are vacant.<\/strong>\u201d <\/p>\n

Accordingly, the proposal adopted today by the EU executive aims to provide a response to \u201chighly localised\u201d issues, \u201coffering public authorities legal certainty should they decide to intervene, in accordance with EU law.\u201d In fact, some Member States have already adopted measures designed to alleviate these pressures, but have come into conflict with the EU due to their incompatibility with EU law. The proposed text introduces \u201cfor the first time, a common European framework for assessing housing measures that affect the single market.\u201d In particular, the<\/strong> process of assessing the situation begins with a preliminary evaluation based on the price-to-income ratio<\/strong> (PTI) to determine whether house prices are becoming less affordable relative to incomes<\/strong>. Specifically, it will be assessed whether the average house price is equivalent to at least eight years\u2019 per capita disposable income. This will be followed by a more in-depth analysis of local housing market conditions<\/strong>, including housing supply and demand, as well as demographic and population trends. In particular, whether the price-to-income ratio has risen over the last ten years. Furthermore, where available, the authorities may use more detailed local data to identify pressures that regional or national averages might mask<\/strong>. Finally, it must be demonstrated that the situation is unlikely to improve over the next three years without the planned intervention. <\/p>\n

However, the decision on whether to intervene and what measures to adopt remains the responsibility of the relevant authorities.<\/strong> In any case, the assessment of the current situation carried out by the competent national, regional or local authority must be based on concrete data, geographically targeted, transparent, and subject to periodic review, taking into account the specific conditions of the local property market. The Commissioner summarised: \u201cIt is not for us, in Brussels, to make this decision, because our role is to enable such measures to be adopted\u2014should that be desired\u2014in accordance with the rules of the single market.\u201d<\/p>\n

 Under the new rules, therefore, the competent authorities will be able to identify \u201careas characterised by housing pressure\u201d<\/strong> and demonstrate, on the basis of concrete evidence, that a problem exists. The solution to the problem proposed by the Regulation \u201cdoes not ban or restrict short-term lettings,\u201d the EU executive points out. However, the focus will be on activities which, due to their scale, frequency, or commercial nature, are most likely to reduce the availability of accommodation intended for long-term residential use. It is in this context that today\u2019s measure comes into play, establishing that a \u201ccommon European framework which authorities are required to comply with should they decide, in the exercise of the powers conferred on them by national law, to adopt measures affecting the purchase or use of housing for purposes other than a main residence, for reasons relating to affordability and housing availability.\u201d The justification underlying these measures will therefore be harmonised at EU level, as the assessment criteria will be the same. <\/p>\n

The measures will be based on evidence demonstrating<\/strong> \u201ca significant negative impact<\/strong> on the affordability or availability of housing\u201d for at least three years and shall be<\/strong> \u201cnon-discriminatory, necessary, and proportionate, appropriately targeted and limited in time<\/strong>\u201d up to a maximum of five years<\/strong>, and must \u201crespect fundamental rights, including the right to property.\u201d Therefore, if the authorities decide to restrict the use of housing\u2014for example, short-term or vacant properties\u2014they must, on the one hand, \u201cdemonstrate that such a practice contributes to local housing pressure\u201d and, on the other hand, \u201censure that any measures are targeted, necessary, and proportionate.\u201d Finally, the Commission has also published recommendations<\/a> to address these requirements. <\/p>\n

For Commissioner J\u00f8rgensen, the text provides \u201c<\/span>Member States and local authorities with the tools to introduce measures aimed at tackling\u201d the issues of affordability and housing availability in the areas most affected. Alongside J\u00f8rgensen was the Executive Vice-President for Competition, Teresa Ribera<\/strong>, who pointed out<\/a> that \u201c<\/span>there is no magic bullet capable of solving this problem\u201d as \u201cthis is a highly complex crisis that requires the use of various tools.\u201d However, at the same time, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen<\/strong>, noted that she had \u201cpromised a year ago to tackle the issue of affordable housing in Europe.\u201d And \u201ctoday we are taking a step in that direction.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Von der Leyen: \u201cA year ago, I promised to tackle the issue of affordable housing in Europe, and today we are taking a step in that direction\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7908,"featured_media":464459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25705],"tags":[31262,25871,30592,30542,30319,35217,29036,27524],"class_list":["post-464495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-dan-jorgensen-and","tag-housing-en","tag-crisis-housing-en","tag-palazzo-berlaymont","tag-teresa-ribera-en","tag-youth-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":464496,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464495\/revisions\/464496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}