{"id":517688,"date":"2025-10-21T19:04:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/517688\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T19:04:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:04:12","slug":"von-der-leyen-to-push-even-harder-on-housing-in-2026-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/517688\/","title":{"rendered":"Von der Leyen to push even harder on housing in 2026 \u2013 POLITICO"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels\u2019 agenda for the next year will include a landmark initiative on short-term rentals that is due in the spring. Tourist flats \u2014 furnished accommodation for brief stays \u2014 are a major factor<\/a> in sky-high housing costs in the bloc\u2019s major cities, and Housing Commissioner Dan J\u00f8rgensen has signaled<\/a> a desire to regulate such properties.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot allow that locals are pushed out of their neighbourhoods,\u201d J\u00f8rgensen said Tuesday, adding that the Commission\u2019s proposal \u201cwill strike the right balance with a firm but fair approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Toward the end of 2026 Brussels will publish its Construction Services Act, which aims to slash regulations related to the building sector and accelerate the construction of new homes. The new law will follow up on the Commission\u2019s upcoming\u00a0Affordable Housing Plan<\/a>, which is due to be released in December and according to J\u00f8rgensen will \u201ctarget the financialization of our housing stock<\/a>\u201d and help end \u201cselfish speculation on a basic need like our homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EU\u2019s main institutions are scrambling to address the housing crisis, which is fueling the growth of far-right parties throughout the EU. In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders and his far-right Party for Freedom won the 2023 national vote campaigning on a housing shortage he said was being exacerbated by migrants and asylum seekers<\/a>. Likewise, Portugal\u2019s Chega party surged to become the country\u2019s leading opposition this year by railing against the failure of establishment parties to tackle soaring home prices<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Tourist flats are a major factor in sky-high housing costs in the bloc\u2019s major cities, and Housing Commissioner Dan J\u00f8rgensen has signaled a desire to regulate such properties. | George Vitsaras\/EPA<\/p>\n

Von der Leyen signaled her personal commitment<\/a> to take on the issue ahead of her reelection as Commission president in 2024, and described the housing shortage as a social crisis<\/a> in this year\u2019s State of the European Union address. The European Parliament launched a special committee<\/a> on the crisis at the beginning of this year, and national leaders are due to discuss the issue<\/a> at this week\u2019s European Council summit in Brussels.<\/p>\n

\u201cAcross all sectors, my point is the same,\u201d von der Leyen told lawmakers on Tuesday. \u201cEurope must deliver for all of its people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brussels\u2019 agenda for the next year will include a landmark initiative on short-term rentals that is due in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[17648,5719,2000,299,5187,1699,18110,1220],"class_list":{"0":"post-517688","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-affordable-housing","9":"tag-cities","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-living-cities","15":"tag-ursula-von-der-leyen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115413717713347551","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}