Brussels, 9 September 2026
The EU Commission today proposed the Affordable Housing Act to support Member States and cities address housing affordability and availability in areas facing the greatest pressures. The lack of affordable housing has become one of the most urgent concerns for Europeans. According to the latest Eurobarometer, over 50% of city dwellers consider housing as an immediate and urgent problem where they live. Today’s proposal helps addressing these concerns. The housing crisis also weakens our competitiveness, by limiting labour and educational mobility. Therefore, it is essential to address it.
In some cities and popular tourist destinations, where pressure on housing is strongest, the increasing use of housing for purposes other than primary residence can aggravate local availability and affordability. The Affordable Housing Act responds to these highly localised concerns. It gives public authorities the legal certainty when they choose to act, based on local specificities, within EU law.
Some Member States have already taken measures to ease such pressures, but have been faced with legal challenges about the compatibility with EU law. The Affordable Housing Act brings clarity and predictability, and addresses the request of Member States and municipalities for greater legal certainty on how they can act in the context of the EU’s single market.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission said: “A year ago, I promised to tackle Europe’s housing affordability. Today, we are taking one step in this direction. By providing more clarity and support to local authorities and communities, anchored in local realities. Lack of affordable housing is a matter of concern for so many of our European citizens. Essential workers and students cannot afford to live where they serve and study. But most importantly, it is about fairness. Today, we are delivering for all Europeans “.
Legal certainty for authorities protecting housing affordability and availability
The Affordable Housing Act provides the first-ever common European framework for assessing housing-related measures affecting the single market. It leaves the decision on whether to act, and which measures to adopt, to the competent authorities. Housing policy choices remain national, regional and local.
The Act is designed to provide legal clarity to authorities, when they choose to take action, in areas under housing stress, while safeguarding the Single Market and fully respecting the principle of subsidiarity.
The new rules are designed to help competent authorities identify “areas under housing stress” using a common methodology. Where authorities choose to restrict the use of housing, for instance for short-term rentals or vacant dwellings, they must show that this contributes to local housing pressures and ensure that any measures are targeted, necessary and proportionate.
As regards short-term rentals, any measure must be targeted at activities that reduce the housing stock available for long-term use, especially where their scale, frequency or commercial character aggravate housing pressure. Before introducing restrictions, authorities must also demonstrate that short-term rental activity has had a significant adverse effect on housing affordability or availability for at least three years, and that less restrictive measures would not be equally effective. They must apply and enforce the EU Short-Term Rental Regulation, including its registration requirements and the removal or disabling of listings that do not comply with them, and, where available, use the data collected under that Regulation to support their assessment.
Short-term rentals are not the only form of non-primary use of housing that can aggravate housing pressures. Authorities are also taking measures affecting the acquisition or use of residential property, for example to address second homes or prolonged vacancy. The Affordable Housing Act also provides a clearer framework for such action. The Act protects legal certainty and legitimate expectations: conditions linked to acquisition cannot apply retroactively, appropriate transitional arrangements must be provided, and measures addressing long-term vacancy should take into account justified periods of non-occupation.
For residents in areas under pressure, the aim is that measures taken locally are better targeted, better supported by evidence and reviewed over time, and that they are accompanied by measures to increase housing supply. Investors and property owners operating across several local markets will benefit from more clarity on the EU legal framework.
The proposal is accompanied by a Recommendation on housing affordability and supply in areas under housing stress. It supports authorities in their efforts to increase housing supply in areas that need it most, including through faster planning and permitting of new construction renovation and repurposing buildings and facilitating investment. Authorities are also encouraged to concentrate such efforts to increase housing supply via Housing Acceleration Plans. Together, the legislative proposal and the Recommendation help authorities preserve housing affordability and availability while accelerating the additional housing supply the EU needs. The Act is one component of the European Affordable Housing Plan, alongside the new State aid rules for affordable housing and the European Strategy for Housing Construction.
Next steps
The legislative proposal will now pass to the European Parliament and the Council under the ordinary legislative procedure. In parallel, the Commission will continue collaborating closely with Member States and all relevant stakeholders to implement the European Affordable Housing Plan.
Background
The Affordable Housing Act delivers on President Von der Leyen’s State of the Union address of September 2025, where she announced that the Commission would have tackled housing affordability with a legal initiative. It is a flagship initiative under the European Affordable Housing Plan and complements EU action to mobilise public and private investment in social and affordable housing and to reduce the time and cost of building and renovating homes. It also complements existing EU rules on short term rentals applicable since May 2026, which aims to improve transparency and access to data, while the Affordable Housing Act sets out the framework for assessing and justifying housing-related measures.
For more information
- Questions & Answers on the Affordable Housing Act
- Factsheet
- Proposal for a Regulation establishing a framework for measures in Member States to safeguard housing affordability and availability
- Commission Recommendation on housing affordability and supply in areas under housing stress
- Making housing affordable – Housing – European Commission
- European Affordable Housing Plan
Quote(s)
A year ago, I promised to tackle Europe’s housing affordability. Today, we are taking one step in this direction. By providing more clarity and support to local authorities and communities, anchored in local realities. Lack of affordable housing is a matter of concern for so many of our European citizens. Essential workers and students cannot afford to live where they serve and study. But most importantly, it is about fairness. Today, we are delivering for all Europeans.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
Housing is, above all, a place to live, a place to enjoy, to feel safe, and to ensure that we can develop our capacities and strengths. Houses and apartments also have a legitimate economic value, which explains why many people invest in real estate. However, we are facing a terrible crisis that prevents many citizens from accessing housing. When the market fails to deliver something as fundamental as an affordable home, public authorities have a responsibility to act. With the Affordable Housing Act, we are providing legal certainty to local authorities, enabling them to take action and address one of the biggest problems of our time.
Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition
Housing is not just a commodity. It is a right, and a fundamental pillar of human dignity. Europeans should have the possibility to live, work and stay in the places they call home. They should have the possibility to find an affordable and decent home in the place where they wish to build their life. While building new and renovating remain essential, we urgently need to make better use of the homes we already have. The Affordable Housing Act gives our Member States and cities the tools to make more affordable homes available, especially in the areas most impacted by the crisis. With this common European tool, we can truly bring a change in people’s lives.
Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing
Source – EU Commission
EU Commission: Questions and answers on the Affordable Housing Act
9 September 2026
Why is the European Commission putting forward the Affordable Housing Act?
Housing has become too expensive for many people in the EU. A June 2025 Eurobarometer found that 40% of Europeans see affordable housing as an immediate and urgent problem where they live, rising to 51% in cities.
While affordability pressures differ sharply across the EU and within Member States, Europeans face a common challenge: there are not enough homes where people need them most, at prices they can afford. This has a significant impact on people’s ability to live where they work, to young people’s ability to leave their parents’ homes and build their life and it also poses economic challenges as labour and educational mobility is limited.
Housing use also matters. In some cities, metropolitan areas, islands and tourist destinations, a significant share of housing is not used as primary residence. This creates pressures on both the cost and availability of housing. In certain areas, a substantial part of non-primary use is short-term rental activity, which has grown rapidly in recent years. Between 2018 and 2024, activity nearly doubled, with 93% growth across the four major platforms. The situation varies widely across Europe, but short-term rentals appear to be much more concentrated in areas under the highest pressure. For example, in central Madrid, there are around 40 short-term rentals for every 100 homes in the long-term rental market.
The Affordable Housing Act helps public authorities protect housing affordability and availability in areas facing the greatest pressure. For the first time, it gives them a clear, common European framework for identifying areas under housing stress and taking targeted, proportionate action based on local evidence. Ultimately, decisions about housing policy will remain with national, regional and local authorities.
The Affordable Housing Act delivers on the European Affordable Housing Plan which was put forward by the Commission in December 2025. It is one component of broader efforts that the European Commission is putting in place to help Member States tackle the housing crisis, which requires sustained actions on investment, housing supply, simplification and better use of the existing housing stock.
What is the added value of the EU action?
Housing policy choices are made at national, regional and local level. However, measures affecting services, investment and property use must also comply with EU Single Market rules.
Across the EU, public authorities are increasingly taking action that affects services, investment and property use to protect housing affordability. These measures already must comply with EU requirements, including requirements on non-discrimination, necessity and proportionality.
The current legal framework – broad Treaty principles, the Services Directive and case law – is not always sufficiently operational for applying those requirements in complex local housing markets. This has led to legal uncertainty, different approaches and repeated litigation.
National and local authorities have repeatedly called for greater legal certainty. The European Court of Auditors noted that national authorities wanted clearer guidance on how to assess measures under the Services Directive. In addition, several Member States and major European cities raised concerns about legal uncertainty and the risk of litigation during the consultation on the Affordable Housing Act.
The Affordable Housing Act aims to make existing EU-law principles clearer and easier to apply, so that decisions across the EU are based on evidence and remain proportionate.
For housing-related measures covered by Affordable Housing Act, it also replaces the current notification procedure under the Services Directive with a framework specifically tailored to areas under housing stress, combining clearer proportionality and transparency requirements with duration limitations and regular review. This simplifies procedures for public authorities while providing greater legal certainty.
At the same time, national, regional and local authorities remain free to decide whether and how to act in their own housing markets. Measures pursuing other public-interest objectives, such as public security, consumer protection, environmental protection or the protection of cultural heritage, remain outside the Affordable Housing Act and continue to be governed by the relevant existing EU law.
Does this give the EU competence over housing?
No. Housing policy remains primarily a responsibility of Member States and their national, regional and local authorities, and the Act does not harmonise housing policies or give the EU a new competence over property law or urban planning. The EU is acting to ensure the proper functioning of the Single Market, because measures taken by public authorities to address housing pressures can restrict Single Market freedoms and have increasingly resulted in divergent national approaches, legal uncertainty and litigation. The Act therefore sets common requirements for assessing the justification, necessity and proportionality of such measures under EU law, while leaving the decision whether an area is under a housing stress, whether to intervene, and which measures are available under national law, to the competent authorities.
Who will benefit from the Affordable Housing Act?
The Affordable Housing Act will bring greater legal certainty and clearer rules to address housing pressures, benefiting public authorities, citizens and businesses across the EU. Cities and other public authorities will have a clear European framework for taking action where housing is being lost from long-term residential use, using local evidence and measures tailored to the pressures they face.
People looking for a home stand to benefit from action that helps keep more homes available for people who want to live in them, particularly in areas where short-term rentals, second homes or prolonged vacancy are significantly aggravating housing pressures. Homeowners and hosts will be protected against unjustified or excessive restrictions: measures must be targeted and proportionate, property rights must be respected, and measures must be targeted at activities that demonstrably contribute to housing pressures rather than broad or arbitrary restrictions. Short-term rental platforms will benefit from safeguards better aligned within the Single Market, ensuring that any restrictions are evidence-based and limited to what is strictly necessary, following a transparent assessment and subject to regular review. Authorities must properly apply and enforce the EU Short-Term Rental Regulation and use the data it provides to assess the impact of short-term rentals on housing affordability and availability.
What are “areas under housing stress” and how is the Commission proposing to support them?
In certain areas, especially cities and tourist hotspots, intensifying competition for limited housing stock has been driving up prices to levels that are unaffordable for local people.
The Affordable Housing Act establishes a common methodology based on objective and transparent evidence. It begins with a pre-screening based on the price-to-income ratio (PTI) to assess whether house prices are becoming less affordable relative to incomes. This is followed by a more detailed assessment of local housing-market conditions, including housing supply and demand, as well as relevant demographic and population trends. Where available, authorities can use more granular local data to identify pressures that regional or national averages may hide. In this way, the common EU methodology is combined with local evidence and local decision-making.
Crucially, the Commission does not determine which areas are under housing stress. This remains the responsibility of the competent national, regional or local authority, which applies the common methodology to its own housing market. The assessment must be evidence-based, geographically targeted, transparent and regularly reviewed, taking account of relevant local housing market conditions. Such an assessment is only required where an authority intends to introduce restrictions under the Act.
The accompanying Recommendation helps authorities tackle the underlying housing shortage in areas under housing stress, with a strong focus on increasing supply. It promotes Housing Acceleration Plans to unlock land and housing supply, speed up permitting, and make better use of existing buildings and land. It also encourages authorities to make full use of available EU and national funding and investment instruments to accelerate the delivery of social and affordable housing.
How will the Affordable Housing Act impact short-term rentals?
The Affordable Housing Act is designed to help local authorities make more housing affordable and available. It is not about regulating any particular platform or business model.
In some cities, neighbourhoods and tourist destinations, the share of STRs listed on the four main online platforms can be significant. The Affordable Housing Act recognises that STRs do not aggravate housing pressures everywhere, indeed, they can also offer many benefits, such as additional income for households or support for renovation. Local authorities must first prove, using evidence, that there is a problem in their area.
The Regulation does not ban or restrict Short-Term Rentals. If authorities decide that action is needed to protect housing affordability and availability, they must show that the short-term rental activity is having a significant adverse effect on the local housing market. Authorities must assess local housing stress using the common methodology and, where they choose to act, demonstrate with evidence that the activity concerned contributes to local housing pressures.
The focus is on activity that, by reason of its scale, frequency or commercial character, is more likely to reduce housing available for long-term residential use. The Affordable Housing Act complements the EU Short-Term Rental Regulation, which is applicable since May 2026. That Regulation improves registration, data collection and data sharing, while the Affordable Housing Act provides the framework for assessing and justifying housing-related measures affecting Short-Term Rentals.
Will this encourage authorities to introduce new restrictions?
The Affordable Housing Act neither requires, prescribes nor recommends restrictions and the inclusion of a type of measure within its scope does not mean that such a measure is automatically lawful or justified. The proposed Regulation introduces greater discipline and clearer safeguards where authorities choose to act: they must demonstrate housing stress and, where required, a significant adverse effect on affordability or availability over at least three years; show that the measure is necessary and proportionate and that less restrictive alternatives would not be equally effective; target it appropriately; respect legal certainty, legitimate expectations and fundamental rights; limit the duration of the measures to maximum 5 years and regularly review them. Restrictions cannot substitute for measures addressing the structural causes of housing shortages, notably building and renovating more.
Is the EU restricting the purchase or use of second homes?
The Affordable Housing Act does not introduce any EU restriction on the purchase or use of second homes (or indeed on STRs), nor does it give national, regional or local authorities new powers to do so. Such measures already exist in different forms in a number of Member States and may affect the free movement of capital and other Single Market freedoms.
The Act establishes a common European framework that authorities must respect if they choose, under powers available to them under national law, to adopt measures affecting the acquisition or use of housing for non-primary residential purposes on grounds of housing affordability and availability. Any such measure must be based on evidence of a significant adverse effect on housing affordability or availability, be non-discriminatory, necessary and proportionate, appropriately targeted and limited in time, and respect fundamental rights, including the right to property. The Act protects legal certainty and legitimate expectations: conditions linked to acquisition cannot apply retroactively, appropriate transitional arrangements must be provided, and measures addressing long-term vacancy should take into account justified periods of non-occupation.
What happens to measures already in force?
Measures adopted before the Affordable Housing Act enters into force are not subject to the new Regulation. They continue to be governed by the EU and national rules applicable to them. Competent authorities may, however, choose to review an existing measure in accordance with the new Affordable Housing Act framework. This avoids reopening measures already adopted while allowing authorities to use the new framework voluntarily where they consider it useful.
What does the Commission recommend that Member States do to increase housing supply in areas under housing stress?
Tackling the housing crisis requires a collective effort that will need to be sustained. Effective action requires authorities at all levels to act on several fronts: increasing supply, simplifying and accelerating housing delivery, attracting investment, increasing the capacity and productivity of the construction sector, and making better use of the already-existing housing stock.
The Affordable Housing Act and the accompanying Recommendation play complementary roles. The Regulation helps authorities respond to immediate pressures on housing affordability and availability demonstrated at local level. The Recommendation, alongside the wider European Affordable Housing Plan, supports the sustained increase in housing supply needed to address the structural causes of the housing crisis.
The Recommendation helps public authorities prepare Housing Acceleration Plans to unlock land and housing supply. This can include better land use and spatial planning, faster permitting, and the renovation, extension and conversion of existing buildings. It also promotes the use of vacant and underused housing and land, as well as measures to deliver social, affordable and student housing more quickly. The Recommendation also encourages authorities make full use of available EU and national funding and investment instruments to increase housing supply and the possibilities offered by EU State aid rules. It also calls for action to strengthen the capacity of the construction sector, including through greater productivity, innovation and industrialised construction methods, so that additional investment can translate more quickly into new and renovated homes.
Source – EU Commission
Press remarks by Executive Vice-President Ribera and Commissioner Jørgensen on the Affordable Housing Act
9 September 2026
Executive Vice-President Ribera
[Check against delivery]
Thank you, Paula.
Today, we adopted the Affordable Housing Act. It is a European framework to give a legal umbrella to mayors from across the European Union that need certainty to tackle the housing problem.
As you know, housing is a top priority for this Commission. The dimension of this crisis makes it urgent to act with urgency. Because social cohesion and fairness are at stake. This is also an extremely complicated crisis that has to be tackled through multiple instruments.
There’s no silver bullet for housing. It’s far too complex for that. We will need to hit many different targets, from many different angles if we are to solve this crisis.
And that’s what we are doing. Last December, we adopted the first Affordable Housing Plan, and we amended our State aid rules to make it easier for Member States to financially support housing.
Today, with the Affordable Housing Act, we provide legal architecture, enabling tools, not prescribing one size-fits-all solutions for those authorities that want to act to protect their citizens.
Because housing is more than a social problem. When people cannot afford to live where jobs and opportunities are, it limits labour mobility, educational opportunities, and, ultimately, Europe’s competitiveness. It puts pressure on the cohesion of our societies and communities.
We have seen that many mayors have already taken action, and we have been listening to their concerns to figure out how we could help them.
So, what are we doing with the Affordable Housing Act? For the first time in Europe, we are setting technical criteria to define what constitutes an area under housing stress. This will give mayors the legal certainty and the tools to act with measures that may be justified, necessary, and proportionate.
This includes measures addressing short-term rentals. Because short-term rentals have a place in Europe’s tourism economy, but their impact in some cities is devastating.
In some of Europe’s most popular tourist destinations and city centers, short-term rentals can account for up to twenty percent of homes. There is also solid evidence that they impact prices and rents of housing stock in that area.
We also include other measures targeted at second homes. These are restrictions on buying or using residential properties for purposes other than as a primary home, for instance, as short-term rentals or investment properties.
We’re not imposing obligations. Whether to act, and which measures to use, remains entirely a matter for the competent authority under national law, needs and local contexts.
Today, we have also adopted a Recommendation on housing affordability and supply in areas under housing stress: it’s a guidance on how to increase housing supply, with a particular focus on housing below market prices.
It covers practical action on planning, renovation, repurposing existing buildings, new methods of construction, and investment.
Does this bring more protection to the mayors? Yes, absolutely. Because we’re establishing common criteria for them all.
So, today’s package is is an important step forward about both sides of the housing challenge:
- giving authorities greater legal clarity where housing stress requires difficult choices, and
- supporting them with practical guidance to increase the supply of affordable, sustainable and resilient homes.
We believe homes should be places to live in, places to enjoy, and places to feel safe. Where housing pressure becomes severe, Europe must help authorities respond in a way that is lawful, proportionate, and fair.
And that’s exactly what we have done today.
I want to personally thank the guidance, courage, and experience that mayors have shown in this difficult battle. I believe in their commitment to bring affordable housing for their citizens and fight against a dangerous idea in our times: housing being only an asset to speculate.
Dan, the floor is yours.
***
EU Commissioner Jørgensen
[Checked against delivery]
51% of European citizens that live in cities consider the lack of affordable housing a serious and urgent problem. More than half.
We are in a housing crisis. We do need to act. And today, we are giving Member States, we’re giving local governments, tools that they can use to introduce measures that can help solve some of the challenges that we have.
Short term rentals are a part of the problem in many cities. Short term rentals, as a fundamental idea, is a good one. And we are not at all arguing against short term rentals as such.
For some, it’s a great opportunity to travel and visit countries that they’ve never visited before. For others, it’s a welcome source of income
But we do see areas and cities where there has been an increase in short term rentals, that has led to normal people being crowded out of their homes and that has led to an increase in prices, that are totally unacceptable.
And if we look at what has happened with the prices it is quite worrisome.
The numbers tell a clear story: over the past 10 years, rents have gone up by 59% in Berlin. 75% in Madrid, and 103% in Lisbon.
This means that normal people with normal jobs – nurses, schoolteachers, police officers – are not able very often to live where they serve.
A home and a house should not primarily be a commodity on a market.
To have a home is a human right. It’s something that provides safety, security, dignity in people’s lives.
And if you don’t have a home, obviously the consequences can be quite severe.
Young people are not able to leave their parents home when they want to. They are delayed in starting a family. They might not be able to get the education that they want and that, by the way, society needs them to take. Or the job that they want and which, by the way, society needs them to take, because they cannot find a home. So we need to take this seriously and this is what we’re doing today.
On the other hand, we also need to realise that probably one size does not fit all when it comes to solutions. So what we are providing is a legal framework for local governments and Member States to act.
We are saying that they can define certain stressed housing areas. If they fulfil a common set of criteria in these areas, they can then introduce measures.
Measures regulating short term rentals or indeed vacant homes.
We also have cities where, sometimes 20-30% of the houses are vacant.
And I do understand that for some citizens that is considered a big challenge and probably also a big problem.
Because if you don’t have enough homes, then is it legitimate to have too many vacant homes?
That is not up to us to decide from Brussels, but it is up to us to make it possible within the rules of the common market to introduce if you want to, as indeed some Member States already do, to reserve new housing for primary residents or restrict prolonged vacancies, or introduce primary residents conditions.
Again, this is not something that we prescribe, it’s not something that we make mandatory, but it’s something that, if in a stressed housing area you want to do this, then within the European rules you can and here is the legal framework to do it.
So, overall: today we are delivering on the promise from President von der Leyen in the State of the Union last year – we proposed the first legal act on housing in this mandate
We show that we take it extremely seriously when more than half of our citizens in cities across Europe say that they are facing a real problem with a lack of affordable housing.
And we do it in a way where we respect subsidiarity and where we respect that of course that there will be different approaches from country to country, from city to city.
Thank you.
Source – EU Commission
MEPs react to the Commission’s Affordable Housing Act
Brussels, 9 September 2026
On Wednesday, MEPs questioned Housing Commissioner Jørgensen on the EU’s plan to help member states, cities and regions to address housing shortages, unaffordability and pressure on markets.
During the meeting with European Parliament’s Special Committee on the Housing Crisis (HOUS), Commissioner Jørgensen said that housing has become a structural problem for more than half of EU citizens and requires urgent action. He noted that short-term rentals can account for up to 20% of housing in some tourist destinations and city centres, while 20–30% of homes can be vacant in some other cities.
The new Affordable Housing Act would provide local authorities with a common legal framework to address housing pressure according to their specific local needs, he said. Mayors would be able to identify areas under housing stress using common criteria, such as the ratio between incomes and housing prices, and, where duly justified, introduce measures targeting short-term rentals, second homes and vacant housing.
Various MEPs welcomed the Commission’s initiative and its recognition of the work of the Housing committee. Some saw the proposed rules on short-term rentals as an important first step towards giving local authorities the legal clarity and tools they need to respond to housing pressure.
Other MEPs expressed concern that restrictive measures on short-term rentals, second homes and vacant properties could affect property rights and economic activity, particularly in areas heavily dependent on tourism.
Several MEPs stressed that these measures alone would not solve the housing crisis and should be accompanied by action to increase housing supply, fasten permits granting and construction procedures, facilitate access to funding and incentives for people buying their first home. Some also stressed that housing should have a significant place and more prominent role in the next multiannual financial framework (MFF).
Quote
HOUS Chair Irene Tinagli (S&D, BE) said:
“In some European cities, as also highlighted by the work of the European Parliament’s Housing Committee, the increasing prevalence of short-term and tourist rentals is contributing to additional pressure on local housing markets. This can affect the availability and affordability of homes for residents and those working in the local economy.
The European Commission is proposing a common framework to provide national and local authorities with greater clarity on the tools available to address these situations. The proposal includes a number of safeguards and conditions intended to ensure that any measures are proportionate, targeted and justified by the specific circumstances of the local housing market.
The proposal will now enter the parliamentary process, providing an opportunity for the different political groups to contribute to further improving and refining the framework.”
Next steps
The proposal will now be further scrutinised by the Parliament and the Council, in order to review and adopt relevant rules.
Further information
Source – EU Parliament