EMPL

Motion for a Resolution by the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL)

Honey, I’m not home! – Europe is a growing and attractive continent, but this also has its downsides. Rent and housing prices in the EU have risen by 16% and 34% respectively since 2010. Considering the needs of students and locals, what stance should Member States adopt towards housing market intervention to ensure access to affordable homes in urban areas for their citizens?

Submitted by Simon Beverwijk (Marnix College), Noa Bos (Het Heerlanden), Sterre Goudappel (Porta Mosana College), Maud Houtekamer (Vechtstede College), Salma Nour (Lyceum Onze-Lieve-Vrouw van Vlaanderen), Nina Tsoutsanis (Chairperson, NL)

The European Youth Parliament,

  1. Alarmed that the number of homeless people in the EU has more than doubled in the last decade,
  2. Concerned by the lack of homeless shelters in Europe,
  3. Noting with regret that more than ten per cent of citizens living in urban areas spent more than 40% of their disposable income on housing,
  4. Aware of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the income of urban inhabitants and thus their ability to pay their increasing rent, 
  5. Acknowledging that marginalised habitants do not always fit the strict income criteria for social housing,
  6. Deeply alarmed by the existence of urban slums in Europe,
  7. Anxious of the “Airbnb effect” leading to displacement of local residents;
  1. Calls upon the Directorate-General on Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion (DG EMPL) to publish research on the groups that are left behind in social housing criteria;
  2. Asks Eurocities to write guidelines for social housing criteria following their Report on housing and homelessness;
  3. Further asks Member States to implement the guidelines created by Eurocities;
  4. Seeks the European Commision to further prioritise funding for the development of social housing in Member States in the Horizon Europe programme;
  5. Requests DG EMPL to conduct research on the effects of rent freezes and rental caps on the housing market;
  6. Advises Member States to implement a rental cap following the example of Berlin; 
  7. Invites Eurocities to encourage the creation of integrated neighbourhoods and apartment complexes where public and private housing exist in the same area;
  8. Requests Member States to limit the “Airbnb effect” on the displacement of local citizens from urban areas by introducing minimum lengths of stay policies for short-term rentals;
  9. Encourages Member States to increase the amount of taxation on an extra home.