MEPs from government and opposition parties have had a difference of opinion on the EU’s action on housing.
Last week, the European Parliament published the Affordable Housing Act, the first time that Europe has created a legal framework for tackling housing issues.
The Socialists and Democrats Group, the second-biggest grouping in the European Parliament, agreed to back the European People’s Party in the aftermath of the 2024 elections, and their pound of flesh was more aggressive action on housing.
The Affordable Housing Act enables local and national authorities to tackle short-term rentals, vacant homes and non-primary residences.
Under new EU rules, the legislation will be able to determine, at a European level, if an area is under housing stress, and the EU will then give local and national authorities the power to use targeted measures to bring the cost of housing down (such as rent controls).
Labour MEP Aodhán Ó Ríordáin stated that the EU were now going to step up and tackle the housing crisis, as the government in Dublin continues to show apathy towards the issue.
“This move puts housing “firmly on the EU agenda for the first time,” the Labour MEP said, and said that the new legislation would crack down on the “unrestricted and unsustainable growth” of short-term rentals.
He stated, “this is a landmark moment; for years, housing has been treated as a purely national issue in Brussels.”
“This Act would not exist without Labour’s grouping in the European Parliament, the Socialists and Democrats Group, fighting for it. We forced this issue onto the European agenda, and now the Commission is finally giving authorities the tools to act against some of the key forces driving families out of their homes,” he said.
He explained, “this regulation moves beyond the previous EU rules on short-term rentals, which were limited purely to data collection. Now, for the first time, the EU is providing a legal framework for national and local authorities to restrict the unsustainable growth of short-term rentals in cities across Europe.
“We cannot allow for a situation to exist where tourists are staying in houses on Airbnb while families are living in hotels that have been turned into emergency accommodation. That is the reality in Dublin right now, and it is obscene,” he said.
“Once again, it is Europe stepping in where our own government has failed to get a grip on this crisis. Now the EU is doing the work of setting the standard. The government should take this Act, use every power it gives them,” the Labour MEP said.
Fine Gael MEP Regina Doherty was more sceptical about the legislation, outright stating that it would not result in “one single new home” being built.
“We have spent almost two years working on the Parliament’s housing blueprint. As vice-chair of the housing crisis committee, I submitted more amendments than any other MEP, focused on getting homes built, unlocking investment and removing barriers to construction.
“The Commission itself acknowledges that insufficient supply is the underlying cause of the crisis. Yet Commissioner Jorgensen appears to have ignored much of the Parliament’s work,” she said.
Doherty criticised the legislation, saying it focuses largely on short-term rentals and restrictions on the use of existing properties.
“It will not build a single new home,” she claimed.
“The Commissioner should be accelerating planning and permitting, improving access to finance, securing construction supply chains and cutting the red tape holding back new homes.”
“Instead, the Commission’s Housing Simplification Package, which is intended to remove the administrative barriers slowing down construction, is not due until March 2027,” she explained.
“This should have been the priority from the beginning and the package must now be brought forward. Families struggling with unaffordable rents and young people locked out of home ownership cannot be left waiting,” Doherty said.
The Fine Gael MEP said, “this was an opportunity to give people hope and present a credible plan to increase housing supply; the Commission has missed the mark.”
“We are in a housing emergency. We need measures that will unlock investment, remove barriers and get homes built now,” she said.