{"id":694814,"date":"2026-01-14T06:40:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T06:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/694814\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T06:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T06:40:13","slug":"across-the-eu-housing-is-more-about-spreadsheets-than-homes-that-has-to-change-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/694814\/","title":{"rendered":"Across the EU, housing is more about spreadsheets than homes. That has to change \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The European Commission<\/a> has decided to get involved in housing<\/a>, a policy area that is a national competence. Or not, as the case is increasingly proving to be across the Continent. <\/p>\n

Despite housing policy being a local responsibility, there are many acknowledged social and economic impacts of poor housing policies across the union. Rising housing costs are affecting labour mobility, limiting access to jobs and education and contributing to inequalities between regions and social groups. We have seen all these problems<\/a> in Ireland. Their negative impacts now \u201cgive the issue clear relevance at EU level<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

In late 2025, the European Commission produced both a report on housing in Europe and a European Affordable Housing Plan. Dan Jorgensen, Danish minister of energy and housing, is in charge. As well as tackling empty homes (averaging 20 per cent across Europe), he will produce an analysis of speculation in housing markets \u201cto propose corrective measures to address this crisis<\/a>\u201d. Speculation is a large part of many countries\u2019 problems. <\/p>\n

The report<\/a> showed that across the EU house prices have risen by an average of 60 per cent since 2015 (in Ireland it is about 109 per cent). Ten per cent of people are unable to pay their mortgage or rent on time, and 10 per cent of urban residents spend more than 40 per cent of their net income on housing. We come in under the EU average for this \u201chousing overburden\u201d, but mainly because half of all Irish homeowners do not have a mortgage.<\/p>\n

Apartments for rent are also increasingly unaffordable, with Lisbon topping the table, partly driven by an influx of well-paid digital migrants from other countries during Covid. Dublin ranked sixth across the EU after the likes of Madrid, Milan and Rome, with our capital city\u2019s apartment dwellers paying some 62 per cent<\/a> of their income on rent. Renters in Luxembourg city, one of the wealthiest cities in the EU, pay the least, at 34 per cent, alongside Frankfurt.<\/p>\n

In terms of home ownership (with and without a mortgage) Ireland, once a champion in this league, is now languishing 10th from the bottom in the EU, well below the average of almost 70 per cent. <\/p>\n

Although short-term lettings account for a small percentage of the EU\u2019s housing stock overall at 1.5 per cent, this masks considerable variations. Neighbourhoods in some EU cities have as much as 20 per cent of their housing taken up by the likes of Airbnb<\/a>.<\/p>\n

From Porto to Tallinn, the objective of a middle-class society of homeowners is under severe threat. As this is mostly affecting younger people, the EU\u2019s fear is that it will drive them into the arms of extreme political parties, particularly those on the right who are more than happy to blame housing problems on immigration rather than ineffective policy.<\/p>\n

Ineffective policy hasn\u2019t just happened in the last few years: getting to this stage has taken decades of hard work by successive governments intent on turning housing and homes into income-producing assets, while simultaneously diluting the social importance of decent housing. <\/p>\n

In Europe, Spain has most similarities with Ireland,<\/a> particularly in terms of its approach to housing, asset-based social welfare, a reliance on the family, a historic concentration on promoting home ownership, and the influence of the Catholic Church on housing policy, particularly in the early years of the state. <\/p>\n

In Spain<\/a>, as in Ireland, while on paper many appear to be rich with the economy booming, the view from the bottom shows rising social inequality and exclusion, mostly driven by housing and access to it. Since 2015, half of all Spanish homes have been bought with cash (in Ireland the portion is a third), which generally signifies housing being bought by those who already own property.<\/p>\n

As in Ireland, the Spanish government has neglected the provision of social housing, removed rent controls for new tenancies, given tax breaks to developers and owners and fuelled mortgage debt. Madrid has thrown its arms open to attract international investment: developers and funds will encounter \u201cno limits, no intervention\u201d, according to the regional mayor. <\/p>\n

Alongside an ideology of deregulation, it has sold off its social housing to private equity funds (this will probably happen in Ireland too). They are relying on the theory that \u201cbuild, build, build\u201d will bring down prices. Of course it will.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the Catalan government in the northeast has implemented strict rules to curtail the prevalence of short-term letting companies such as Airbnb, banning tourist rentals in 140 municipalities<\/a>. Despite legislative loopholes quickly being exploited by some landlords, in the year to June 2025, rents fell by 8.9 per cent on average in Barcelona<\/a> (they are still rising in Madrid).<\/p>\n

Tax reforms to deter speculation in housing are coming for Catalonia<\/a> and increasing numbers of new housing are being categorised as permanently protected \u2013 any future sales price is limited, thereby ensuring long-term affordability for subsequent purchasers.<\/p>\n

Spain is like a test bed for different policy approaches: one that sees housing mostly as an investment and a source of revenue and profit; and the other that sees housing as a public interest project for social good. Ireland would do well to observe closely what is happening there and the outcomes. <\/p>\n

Recent comments by the Higher Education Minister on housing are illuminating and reminiscent of the Celtic Tiger. In an interview with this newspaper<\/a>, Fianna F\u00e1il\u2019s James Lawless<\/a> said housing \u201cis about international markets. It\u2019s actually a spreadsheet in Zurich or New York or Antwerp, more so than a builder looking at a site in Longford or Roscommon, that\u2019s actually deciding what happens here\u201d.<\/p>\n

His analysis is right, but the lack of appreciation of the implications is concerning. At its heart, it is an admission that the Government has little control over the delivery of housing, with key decisions being taken by investment analysts who have probably never set foot in Ireland. I\u2019m not sure de Valera would approve.<\/p>\n

The EU\u2019s future involvement in housing will be interesting. The problems are common across the union, but the question is: can countries be convinced that housing is of more benefit for its social rather than financial return? <\/p>\n

Lorcan Sirr is senior lecturer in housing at the Technological University Dublin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The European Commission has decided to get involved in housing, a policy area that is a national competence.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[7706,2000,299,5187,2557,1699,6334,9039,136524,1270,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-694814","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-catalonia","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-european","12":"tag-european-commission","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-housing-crisis","15":"tag-housing-demand","16":"tag-james-lawless","17":"tag-renting","18":"tag-spain"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115892087985839600","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694814","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=694814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}