EU to Propose Tourist Rental Rules to Tackle Housing Crisis

The European Union’s first-ever housing commissioner, Dan Jørgensen, said this week that the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, will soon propose rules to target the “huge problem” of short-term accommodations offered by platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com to tackle the “social crisis” of unaffordable homes, the Guardian reported. 

Jørgensen, a Danish Social Democrat, has been tasked with creating the EU’s first-ever affordable housing plan, to be unveiled in December.  

Also responsible for targeting high energy prices, Jørgensen said the EU’s affordable housing plan will tackle the “financialization” of housing, focus on tenants’ rights, and the role of state aid in supporting an affordable supply, EU Today noted.  

The EU has traditionally remained out of housing policy, leaving it to national governments. However, Jørgensen and other officials believe the countries have “failed to deliver,” particularly in their ineffective crackdowns on short-term rentals, which have become “a huge problem in many cities.”  

For the past decade, short-term accommodations offered on online platforms across European cities have been blamed for rising rents and for pushing local residents out of historic centers and transforming residential areas into tourist hotspots. 

That has led to anti-tourist protests breaking out across Europe over the past two years, particularly in Spain. 

At the same time, rising rents and mortgages have become a huge topic in national elections. In 2023, almost 9 percent of the EU population spent 40 percent or more of their disposable income on housing, according to the EU statistics agency Eurostat. The ideal amount, according to officials, should be lower than one-third of disposable income. 

Now, EU officials are considering imposing requirements to build a certain number of affordable homes, modifying the rules to make it easier to offer subsidies or tax breaks to providers of affordable housing, and other measures, such as banning foreigners from buying real estate.  

Meanwhile, some member states are also considering more radical approaches. Spain, for example, is planning a 100 percent tax on the value of properties purchased by non-EU residents. 

EU leaders are scheduled to discuss housing at a summit next week.