Europe’s housing costs akin to ‘new pandemic’, warns Barcelona mayor

The rapidly increasing cost of housing across Europe is being compared to a "new pandemic" by the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni. Along with 16 other city leaders, he is appealing to the European Union for a substantial financial response to assist the areas most affected by this crisis.

The EU is scheduled to release its first housing plan this Tuesday, following consultations with various experts, stakeholders, and members of the public. Those directly dealing with the issue have been cautioning for months that the scale of the problem is too significant to ignore.

Collboni, who established the Mayors for Housing alliance last year with support from the mayors of Paris and Rome, stated that the cost of housing is the "new pandemic" impacting European cities. He urged European institutions to allocate special funding, similar to the response to COVID-19, to encourage the construction of affordable housing for young people, working families, and the urban middle class.

For the past year, the Mayors for Housing alliance, representing over 20 million people through its 17 mayors, has been pressing the EU to take more action on what they consider a "social emergency." They highlight the soaring costs of property and rent, which they believe have fueled inequality, strained social structures, and, in some instances, bolstered support for far-right political groups.

Following a sustained campaign involving letters and meetings with high-ranking EU officials, the alliance welcomed the EU's focus on housing policy in October. Collboni emphasized the need to convert this attention into tangible resources, noting that the EU has traditionally avoided involvement in housing matters.

Mayors from cities including Athens, Amsterdam, Bologna, and Budapest are jointly requesting the EU to establish an affordable housing fund. This fund, modeled after the NextGenerationEU program used during the COVID-19 crisis, would aim to mobilize at least €300 billion annually in public and private investments to strengthen social and affordable housing options. They are also advocating for EU officials to incorporate their local insights by including them in the decision-making process.

According to Eurostat, house prices throughout the EU have surged by 48% between 2010 and 2023, while rents have risen by 22% during the same period. By 2023, almost 10% of people were allocating 40% or more of their disposable income to housing, with particularly high rates in Greece (29%), Denmark (15%), and Germany (13%).

Collboni described the housing crisis as an unprecedented internal threat to the EU. He cautioned that failing to adequately address the issue could lead people to question the ability of democracies to solve major problems.

He argued that the cost of housing should be given the same priority as challenges such as the war in Ukraine and the threat from Russia, which are frequently presented as fundamental threats to European values and democracies.

Dan Jørgensen, the EU's first housing commissioner, stated in October that the EU executive was preparing to address the significant issue of short-term rentals.

In Barcelona, where home prices have increased by almost 70% in the last decade, Collboni emphasized the crucial role of the EU and its institutions in resolving the crisis. He stressed that these institutions, which have guaranteed the free movement of capital and people for decades, must now assist in guaranteeing the right to remain in one's city.

Collboni warned that failure to act could empower populists who exploit public discontent by offering scapegoats rather than practical solutions. He argued that defending democracy, inclusive societies, and equal opportunities becomes meaningless if people's living standards decline, even with stable jobs and salaries.