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

Tabled by Maria Ohisalo

40. Recalls that the Removed: judgment of the Court of Justice Removed: in Joined Cases C-724/18 and C-727/1855 stated that a legitimate public interest may exist for Added: of the European Union (CJEU) set out that, in areas affected by a shortage of residential rental housing, establishing mechanisms to regulate short-term Removed: rentals at the national, regional or local level, provided that the measures adopted are necessary, adequate and proportionate; calls for a balanced approach that reconciles the right to private property ownership, legal certainty for owners, and sustainable tourism with the need to preserve the availability of housing and liveability in historic city centres; considers that certain measures could help urban centres regain their residential functions, such as adequate and proportionate licensing systems, increased transparency regarding large-scale foreign property acquisitions in order to monitor housing availability, authorisations from neighbours’ associations or the main owner, or safety, quality and consumer protection standards, ensuring that those policies are proportionate and tailored to the specific circumstances; underlines that measures are needed to safeguard housing for residents and preserve the diversity and vitality of urban communities; calls for tourism activities and their positive impacts on local economies to be balanced with the preservation of housing availability for local residents and strategic and essential workers in the long-term; 55 Judgment of the Court of Justice of 22 September 2020, Cali Apartments SCI and HX v Procureur général près la cour d’appel de Paris and Ville de Paris, Joined Cases C-724/18 and C-727/18, ECLI:EU:C:2020:743. Added: rentals, the objectives of which are to ensure a sufficient supply of residential housing units, socially diverse housing and maintaining rents at an affordable level, since housing is a basic necessity and a fundamental right, constitutes an overriding reason relating to the public interest for the purposes of EU law; firmly believes that Member States must take action to achieve the abovementioned objectives and address the proliferation of short-term rentals, including by adopting provisions on banning short-term rentals, mandatory registration and prior authorisation schemes as well as on offset requirements, primarily targeting professional investors and large-scale houseowners, while avoiding disproportionately burdening small-scale private homeowners; considers key the adoption of effective mechanisms aimed at making it possible to revert current short-term rentals to long-term residential rental housing as well as eradicating illegal short-term rentals through enhanced inspection powers, especially in areas with a particularly high population density and experiencing a structural residential rental housing shortage, thus defending the overriding reasons relating to the public interest, recognised as such also in the CJEU’s case-law, which includes, in particular, grounds relating to the protection of the urban environment and social policy objectives as well as public housing policy, seeking to combat land pressure; calls on the Commission to refrain from pursuing any infringement procedure against Member States for their efforts in this regard;

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