Ensuring sustainable, decent and affordable housing in Europe

The recent cost-of-living crisis has exacerbated a longstanding problem with housing affordability. Higher building costs and mortgage rates, and the related decrease in housing construction have made access to home ownership more difficult, while investors use housing as a vehicle for investment. In many cities, rents have risen, owing in part to high demand for short-term rentals. While housing policies are the responsibility of the Member States, housing is set, for the first time, to become a distinct part of a European Commissioner's portfolio.