REPORT on the housing crisis in the European Union with the aim of proposing solutions for decent, sustainable and affordable housing

Tabled by Leila Chaibi, Irene Montero, Ilaria Salis, Martin Schirdewan, Estrella Galán, Giorgos Georgiou, Catarina Martins

28. Removed: Stresses that housing policy must strike a fair balance between protecting owners’ rights and safeguarding tenants; recalls that EU citizens have the right to own, use, dispose of and inherit lawfully acquired possessions; strongly condemns the phenomenon of illegal occupation of private and public properties across Europe, known as squatting, which infringes on the fundamental right to private property; Added: Underlines the need to combat the criminalisation of occupation of vacant housing, especially public properties and properties owned by landlords with multiple residential assets, where such occupation is carried out by individuals unable to afford housing at prevailing market rates; calls on the Member States to Removed: protect this fundamental right and adopt stricter measures to safeguard owners, ensuring swift and effective legal mechanisms for the recovery of property, including timely court orders for evictions, strengthening protection for victims of such acts, restoring lawful possessions and upholding the rule of law; underlines that the illegal occupation of housing units can generate insecurity, urban decay and social tension and undermine social cohesion; considers that owners being lawfully able to regain control of their dwellings is not only a matter of fairness and justice, but is also vital for maintaining investor confidence and rental supply; calls for coordinated policies at EU level to address and curb housing occupation, guaranteeing the right to property and the legal certainty of owners as important elements for ensuring, economic stability and security, in particular protecting small owners who depend on rental income as a means of earning a living, such as pensioners; calls for better cooperation, data collection and information-sharing between the Member States in this regard; and calls for better use of Europol tools where organised crime is suspected to be involved in squatting, including by exploring the added value and possible establishment of an online platform; Added: encourage the rehabilitation of abandoned or deliberately neglected buildings and stresses the need to coordinate the transformation of degraded and vacant buildings in high-demand areas into diversified public housing, including social housing, solidarity-based leases, and intermediate housing, and ensuring quality and multi-service facilities;

Wording as published by the EP, in English. PE782.973v01-00