EU Strategy for Housing Construction

Key points

The EESC:

• welcomes the Strategy for Housing Construction under the Affordable Housing Plan, but urges the Commission to swiftly present the announced initiatives and adopt far more ambitious measures to address the structural housing crisis: the necessary framework conditions for the construction to serve as a catalyst for affordable, sustainable and high-quality housing, a right to adequate and affordable housing in EU primary law, sufficient funding and a stronger focus on vulnerable groups and on sustainability. Housing support must, depending on the case, prioritise conversions, renovations and new builds and promote climate-neutral and resource-efficient construction methods, collective housing and alternative mobility approaches that improve people’s quality of life;
• criticises the lack of clear land-use and spatial planning guidance and calls for an effective rural development strategy and proven tools, including mandatory shares of subsidised affordable housing;
• considers innovation essential for faster, more sustainable, reliable and affordable construction, while increasing the attractiveness of skilled trades. It therefore welcomes accelerated standards development under the new Construction Products Regulation and calls for a stronger EU role in international standardisation bodies. Digitalisation should not be limited to construction projects. It should also be leveraged to strengthen labour rights enforcement, job quality, working conditions and consumer interest.

The EU Youth Test at the EESC was applied to this opinion. Human Research Development Initiative (HDRI) was chosen by a group of interested youth organisations to represent all of them during the opinion-making process.