High housing prices also threaten the functioning of city services
To successfully address the housing crisis in the European Union, it is essential to approach housing as a human right and not as a commodity on the market. Local and regional governments must also have greater legislative powers in the field of housing and direct access to funding from EU funds, as these are the ones that solve this problem in practice. This is exactly what the Mayor of Zagreb Tomislav Tomašević and I emphasized today at the conference “We rethink housing: Everyone deserves a home”,which opened in Brussels.
For me, housing is a fundamental human right and with this perspective I enter all the processes of designing affordable and social housing policies in the European Union, whether in the European Parliament or in national parliaments. I have particularly stressed the importance of the moment at which this conference is taking place: the European Parliament is about to debate a major report on affordable housing, the Commission is preparing its housing plan, and we are facing a new debate on the seven-year budget.
Unfortunately, the first proposal of the report of the Special Committee on Housing, which comes from the ranks of the conservative EPP, was not good enough. He did not take seriously the problem of financialization of housing, empty real estate and unregulated short-term rent, although it is these factors that significantly increase the unavailability of housing. We Greens make it clear: we want to build housing for people, not for profit. My key goal is to fight homelessness, which we must eradicate by 2030.
In addition, it is important for me to stress the strengthening of social housing and raising standards of construction quality and energy efficiency, because this directly means a better life for citizens. Regardless of what happens in Parliament or in the Commission, in the end all legislative proposals will have to be implemented in the Member States, and they will be brought down to the local level. That is why I keep repeating: local and regional levels must be recognised as key actors in the process and must be given access to direct funding from European funds.
Tomislav Tomašević and I repeated this message.
He stressed that the same demand comes from mayors from different European cities, regardless of political affiliation. The example of Zagreb clearly shows what local politics can do: the first amendments to the GUP were adopted after nine years, with the aim of making Zagreb a more pleasant city to live in, with more greenery, kindergartens and schools. Despite liberal urbanism, real estate prices in Zagreb have doubled in the last ten years, while at the same time we have 55 thousand empty apartments. These apartments are most often purchased for speculative purposes, which confirms that the problem is in the tax policy that allows such practices.
That is why I argue that the housing crisis in Europe cannot be left to the market. If the problem is only housing supply, then why was a housing commissioner appointed for the first time in history in the EU? It is clear that a comprehensive approach is needed - the construction of new apartments for affordable rent, the regulation of short-term rent and a tax policy that prevents speculation.
For me, the fight for affordable housing in the European Parliament and across the European Union is not a fleeting issue, but a permanent obligation. I call on all citizens, allies and partners to work together to protect the right to housing and to resist the interest groups that are holding back the resolution of this crisis. Housing must become the right of everyone, be it in Osijek, Zagreb, Croatia and the entire European Union.
