Bloc’s first affordable housing plan to cover issues such as tenants’ rights, property speculation and tourist lets
The EU executive will propose rules to tackle the “huge problem” of short-term rentals via platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, as it seeks to confront the “social crisis” of people struggling to afford a home, its first-ever housing commissioner has said.
In an interview with the Guardian and other European newspapers, Dan Jørgensen said it was time for Brussels policymakers to take housing seriously or cede ground to anti-EU populists, who, he said, did not have the answers to the shortage of affordable homes.
“If we don’t, as policymakers, take this problem seriously and acknowledge that this is a social problem and needs action, then … the anti-EU populists will win,” he said, adding that Brussels had so far “failed to deliver” on some of the key elements of the housing crisis.
Jørgensen, a Danish Social Democrat, has been tasked with crafting the EU’s first-ever affordable housing plan, which is expected to be made public in December. He said publication had been brought forward from 2026, citing the urgency of “the social crisis”.
