On the role of cohesion policy investment in resolving the current housing crisis

(2024/2120(INI))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to the Treaty on European Union, in particular Article 3(3) thereof,

–having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in particular Articles 14, 174, 175 and 177 thereof, and to Protocol 28 thereto on economic, social and territorial cohesion, which recognises the need to monitor regularly the progress made towards achieving economic, social and territorial cohesion and states the Member States’ willingness to study all necessary measures in this respect,

–having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy,

–having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 on the European Regional Development Fund and on the Cohesion Fund (ERDF-CF Regulation),

–having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/1056 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 establishing the Just Transition Fund (JTF), which aims to support the people, economies and environment of territories that face serious socio-economic challenges stemming from the shift towards a climate-neutral EU,

–having regard to the Commission’s ninth report on economic, social and territorial cohesion of March 2024,

–having regard to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in particular Article 25(1) thereof,

–having regard to the Geneva UN Charter on Sustainable Housing and its aim to ‘ensure access to decent, adequate, affordable and healthy housing for all’,

–having regard to the Council of Europe’s revised European Social Charter, and in particular to Article 31 thereof on the right to housing,

–having regard to the Commission communication of 14 October 2020 entitled ‘A Renovation Wave for Europe - greening our buildings, creating jobs, improving lives’ (COM(2020)0662), which aims to renovate 35 million buildings by 2030,

–having regard to Directive (EU) 2024/1275 of the European Parliament and the Council of 24 April 2024 on the energy performance of buildings,

–having regard to the Territorial Agenda 2030 – A future for all places, adopted at the informal meeting of ministers responsible for spatial planning, territorial development and/or territorial cohesion on 1 December 2020,

–having regard to the housing partnership agenda of the Urban Agenda for the EU of December 2018,

–having regard to the New Leipzig Charter – The transformative power of cities for the common good, adopted at the informal ministerial meeting on urban matters on 30 November 2020,

–having regard to the new urban agenda adopted by the UN on 20 October 2016,

–having regard to the Commission communication of 15 September 2021 entitled ‘New European Bauhaus – Beautiful, Sustainable, Together’ (COM (2021)0573),

–having regard to its resolution of 21 January 2021 on access to decent and affordable housing for all,

–having regard to its resolution of 14 September 2022 on the new European Bauhaus,

–having regard to its resolution of 15 February 2022 on the challenges for urban areas in the post-COVID-19 era,

–having regard to its resolution of 12 July 2023 on the financial activities of the European Investment Bank – annual report 2022,

–having regard to the ESPON project entitled ‘Access to affordable and quality housing for all people’,

–having regard to the housing policy toolkit of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on decentralisation/fragmentation of social housing responsibilities ,

–having regard to the report issued by Enrico Letta in April 2024 entitled ‘Much more than a market’,

–having regard to the report issued by Mario Draghi in September 2024 entitled ‘The future of European competitiveness’,

–having regard to the report by the German Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development published in 2022 entitled ‘Housing Policies in the EU’,

–having regard to the report by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions of 18 October 2023 entitled ‘Bridging the rural-urban divide: Addressing inequalities and empowering communities’,

–having regard to the publication by Eurostat entitled ‘Housing in Europe – 2024 edition’,

–having regard to the declaration of the EU ministers responsible for housing adopted in Nice on 8 March 2022,

–having regard to the Gijón Declaration adopted on the occasion of the informal ministerial meeting on housing and urban development on 13-14 November 2023,

–having regard to the La Hulpe Declaration on the Future of the European Pillar of Social Rights signed by the EU institutions, social partners and civil society representatives on 16 April 2024,

–having regard to the Liège Declaration drafted and signed by European non-state actors, including cities and regions, NGOs, organisations, researchers, civil society representatives and businesses at the European Conference of Housing Ministers under the Belgian Presidency of the Council on 5 March 2024,

–having regard to the report by the European Investment Bank (EIB) of 7 February 2024 entitled ‘EIB Investment Report 2023/2024’,

–having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions of 17 April 2024 entitled ‘Smart, sustainable and affordable housing as a tool for local authorities to face multiple challenges’,

–having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of 5 December 2024 entitled ‘Social housing in the EU – decent, sustainable and affordable’,

–having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,

–having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs,

–having regard to the report of the Committee on Regional Development (A10-0000/2025),

A.whereas between 2015 and 2023, house prices in the EU rose on average by 48 %, mainly due to higher building costs and mortgage rates, a decrease in construction, which limited supply, and the rise in the purchase of properties as an investment to generate additional income;

B.whereas in 2023, housing costs in the EU exceeded 40 % of disposable income for 10.6 % of households in cities and 7 % of households in rural areas;

C.whereas the notion of affordable housing is framed as a ‘housing continuum’, which includes social housing, affordable rental housing and affordable home ownership;

D.whereas the legal uncertainties regarding EU State aid rules are a major obstacle to investing funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in affordable housing;

E.whereas EU cohesion policy (CP) funds and the EIB financing instruments are very important sources of EU investments to increase the supply of affordable housing in the EU;

F.whereas cohesion policy investments in housing should be based on a thorough assessment of the housing markets in order to avoid unintended effects, taking into account the needs of the households and the thresholds of affordability, prioritising the livelihoods of the most vulnerable groups and of people with particular needs;

An overview of the current housing crisis in the EU

1.Acknowledges that the EU is undergoing a severe housing crisis, which is not just a social issue, as it has far-reaching economic consequences; notes furthermore that, despite the fact that urban areas are particularly affected, the housing crisis is not limited to cities and affects all regions, especially those with permanent geographical handicaps, such as islands, outermost regions and most coastal areas;

2.Is convinced that by aligning housing policies with the CP, meaningful progress can be made in tackling the housing crisis and ensuring balanced regional development across the EU;

3.Welcomes the idea to set up an EU platform on affordable housing with the EIB to leverage cohesion policy funds and private investments, and to provide advisory services that embrace all stages of the project cycle and beyond;

4.Underlines that, in the current context of housing market failure, the CP and financial instruments such as loans, guaranties and equity in affordable housing, should not be accounted for in the excessive deficit procedure of the Stability and Growth Pact and the European Semester;

An updated cohesion policy 2021-2027 to address the housing crises

5.Asks the managing authorities of CP funds at national and regional level to use the opportunity of the mid-term review of the cohesion policy in the programming period 2021-2027 to at least double the planned funds; recommends that the Member States make use of the existing possibilities for transferring allocations between CP funds;

6.Calls on the Commission to consider the current lack of housing affordability as a long-term phenomenon and to propose a revision of the ERDF (ERDF-CF Regulation) and the JTF (Regulation EU 2021/1056) in order to allow the Member States to provide targeted investment support to mitigate the negative socio-economic consequences of such a crisis, particularly in cities;

7.Suggests furthermore that the Commission include in the revision of the ERDF-CF Regulation new specific objectives on affordable and sustainable housing within policy objective 2 on a greener and carbon free Europe, policy objective 4 on a more social Europe and policy objective 5 on a Europe closer to citizens, in order to finance action on housing shortages, improve the quality of housing and ensure that all citizens have access to affordable and adequate housing;

8.Suggests broadening the scope of the ERDF-CF and European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) support beyond the promotion of energy efficiency or renewable energy in housing and social housing, to include innovative approaches that increase affordability, such as community land trust, cooperatives and cost-rent models;

9.Suggests that the Commission propose an additional amount of exceptional pre-financing with respect to several targeted priorities on affordable housing, and that the investments in housing affordability be considered within the thematic concentration requirements;

10.Asks the Commission to define a framework of affordable housing eligibility criteria that allow local authorities to delimit the target groups of people who are unable to obtain housing at market conditions and who need ERDF-CF support to access residential accommodation that meets appropriate quality standards and is provided at below market prices;

11.Notes that combining ERDF-CF and JTF grants with EIB financial instruments can contribute to increasing the leverage effect of investments and access to finance for real estate promoters, builders and final beneficiaries;

12.Encourages the Commission and the EIB to include strict, transparent, inclusive and fair allocation mechanisms, as well as social and sustainable conditions for the beneficiaries of EU funds and financial instruments; stresses that, as far as possible, public ownership should be maintained in order to increase the public housing stock;

Housing affordability in the future cohesion policy beyond 2027

13.Notes that investments in affordable and sustainable housing for low-income and middle-class populations should be one of the upcoming strategic priorities of EU cohesion funds under the next multiannual financial framework post-2027 and that the renovation wave strategy must be anchored into regular CP programmes to ensure its continuity;

14.Calls, furthermore, on the Commission to include in the future cohesion policy the promotion of territorial resilience and support for communities through the provision of resilient housing that can withstand the impact of natural disasters and the effects of unexpected events;

15.Proposes including in the future cohesion policy an allocation of funds for housing made up of a minimum share of ERDF-CF and ESF+ funds on the basis of national and regional strategies on affordable and sustainable housing for middle- and low-income households in urban and rural areas;

16.Calls on the Commission and on the EIB to include in the future cohesion policy a specific duration requirement for operations involving investment in affordable and sustainable housing infrastructure from the CP funds; takes the view that the Commission must ensure that the land and the houses benefiting from EU funds remain in the hands of public authorities to create an EU public housing stock;

17.Encourages the inclusion of long-term conditions for beneficiaries of CP funds on affordable housing to support the ‘right to stay’ in rent controlled areas of cities and the exclusion of short-term speculative investors;

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18.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.