European Commission Unveils Strategic Legal Measures To Tackle Housing Shortage, Focusing On Regulating Short-term Rentals In Popular Cities

Published on September 13, 2025

The European Union is taking important action to reside nan escalating lodging situation by introducing a broad ineligible model to modulate short-term rentals crossed personnel states. Recognizing nan increasing strain connected lodging markets, nan European Commission has unveiled plans aimed astatine balancing nan expanding request for short-term accommodations pinch nan urgent request for affordable, semipermanent housing. These caller regulations are designed to mitigate nan antagonistic effect of short-term rental platforms connected section lodging availability, ensuring that residents, students, and basal workers person greater entree to affordable homes, while still allowing for tourism-driven maturation successful celebrated areas.

The European Union is taking important steps to reside nan ongoing lodging situation by introducing ineligible measures to modulate short-term rentals. The move comes astatine a clip erstwhile nan lodging rumor has go 1 of nan astir pressing challenges crossed Europe, affecting nan lives of young people, students, and basal workers alike. The European Commission’s push to tackle nan situation intends to bring much affordable, sustainable, and high-quality lodging to citizens, while addressing nan challenges posed by short-term rental operations.

The Growing Housing Crisis successful Europe

In her announcement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen stressed that nan lodging situation has escalated into a societal problem of unprecedented proportions. She pointed retired that nan rumor is not conscionable astir nan deficiency of disposable homes, but astir really it has affected people’s regular lives. The lodging problem is making it difficult for young group to commencement families, leaving galore incapable to spend their ain homes. Students are besides uncovering it harder to proceed their studies owed to nan expanding costs of accommodation. Furthermore, basal workers, specified arsenic doctors, nurses, and firefighters, are facing difficulties uncovering affordable lodging successful nan very communities wherever they serve.

The situation is peculiarly acute successful municipality areas, wherever request for lodging has skyrocketed successful caller years, while proviso has struggled to support up. As a result, galore group are being forced to unrecorded further from their places of activity aliases study, starring to agelong commutes and reduced value of life. The shortage of affordable lodging has besides led to accrued societal inequality, arsenic low-income groups are disproportionately affected.

Legal Measures for Short-Term Rentals

A cardinal portion of nan European Commission’s strategy to reside this situation is nan preamble of ineligible regulations for short-term rental operations. These regulations are designed to onslaught a equilibrium betwixt nan increasing request for short-term accommodations, driven mostly by nan emergence of platforms for illustration Airbnb and Booking.com, and nan request to protect semipermanent lodging availability. Short-term rentals person go a important portion of nan accommodation market, and while they supply a valuable work to tourists, they person besides contributed to nan simplification of disposable lodging for section residents.

The caller ineligible measures purpose to create a model that allows short-term rentals to coexist pinch nan broader lodging marketplace without further exacerbating nan shortage of affordable homes. These measures will beryllium developed successful collaboration pinch lawmakers, stakeholders, and manufacture experts to guarantee that they are applicable and effective. One of nan goals is to limit nan effect of short-term rental operations connected semipermanent rental markets, peculiarly successful cities and regions wherever lodging request is already high.

The ineligible model is expected to see regulations astir nan number of short-term rental properties that tin beryllium offered successful definite areas, arsenic good arsenic rules for spot owners regarding registration, reporting, and compliance. By regulating nan short-term rental market, nan EU hopes to trim its effect connected nan readiness of lodging for imperishable residents, while still allowing travelers to entree accommodations successful celebrated tourer destinations.

Increasing Demand for Short-Term Rentals

Recent information from Eurostat highlights nan increasing request for short-term accommodation crossed Europe. In nan 2nd 4th of 2025, overnight stays successful short-term rentals roseate by 7.8 percent, making up 23 percent of nan full tourer accommodation market. This emergence successful request has been fueled by nan expanding number of group walking for leisure, business, and different purposes, on pinch nan increasing fame of platforms that link hosts and guests.

In Greece, short-term rental activity has besides seen important growth. The number of short-term stays successful nan state roseate by 3.5 percent, reaching 8.8 cardinal overnight stays successful 2025. This summation successful request has put further unit connected section lodging markets, peculiarly successful tourist-heavy areas. While short-term rentals person brought economical benefits to section economies, they person besides contributed to rising spot prices, making it much difficult for locals to find affordable housing.

Affordable Housing Plan for nan European Union

In consequence to nan rising costs of housing, nan European Commission has introduced nan first-ever European Affordable Housing Plan. The scheme intends to reside nan challenges of affordability, sustainability, and value successful Europe’s lodging market. Since 2015, location prices person accrued by much than 20 percent, further widening nan spread betwixt lodging costs and incomes. The European Affordable Housing Plan seeks to make lodging much accessible to citizens, pinch a attraction connected expanding nan proviso of affordable homes and improving surviving conditions.

The scheme besides intends to guarantee that lodging is much sustainable and energy-efficient, successful statement pinch nan EU’s broader biology goals. By promoting sustainable building practices and energy-efficient lodging solutions, nan scheme seeks to trim nan biology effect of Europe’s lodging stock. Additionally, nan scheme will attraction connected improving nan value of housing, .

EU Housing Summit and State Aid Reforms

To guarantee nan occurrence of these initiatives, nan European Commission is readying to convene nan first EU Housing Summit. The acme will bring together policymakers, experts, and stakeholders from crossed Europe to talk strategies for tackling nan lodging situation and implementing nan projected measures. The acme will besides attraction connected fostering collaboration betwixt EU personnel states and ensuring that lodging policies are efficaciously coordinated crossed borders.

In summation to nan summit, nan European Commission will revise nan EU’s authorities assistance rules to support lodging initiatives. These revisions will thief guarantee that nationalist backing tin beryllium directed toward affordable lodging projects and that personnel states person nan elasticity to instrumentality lodging policies that champion suit their section needs.

The European Union is group to present a broad ineligible model to modulate short-term rentals, aiming to tackle nan ongoing lodging crisis. These caller measures activity to equilibrium nan request for short-term accommodations pinch nan request for affordable, semipermanent lodging for residents crossed personnel states.

The European Union’s projected measures to modulate short-term rentals and nan preamble of nan European Affordable Housing Plan are important steps successful addressing nan continent’s ongoing lodging crisis. By introducing ineligible regulations for short-term rentals and focusing connected expanding nan proviso of affordable housing, nan EU intends to guarantee that each citizens person entree to safe, sustainable, and affordable homes. With continued collaboration and effective implementation, these initiatives person nan imaginable to make a meaningful effect connected Europe’s lodging marketplace successful nan years to come.