A committee of the European Parliament votes this Monday on the first report on the housing crisis, which proposes a set of solutions to increase supply and support demand, including reinforcing European investment. The report in question will be voted on on Monday in the Special Commission on the Housing Crisis and, If approved, it will then be submitted to the European Parliament for a vote in the March plenary session.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, PS MEP Isilda Gomes, who belongs to the commission, said that the report in question aims to ensure that housing effectively becomes a right. “Housing is everyone’s right. Each family must have their corner, their space to structure their future, to raise their children because, otherwise, we are creating inequalities even in terms of education, training”, he stated.
After listening to several people who suffer directly from the housing crisis, the Special Commission on the Housing Crisis made a “very interesting survey” of the causes that led to the situation in the sectorsaid Isilda Gomes. According to the deputy, solutions are also proposed.
Among these proposals, the MEP highlighted the fact that she defends the review of the European Union’s state aid rules to facilitate investments in housing. “In this way, I believe that we will be able to find the means to combat this problem, which is considered one of the biggest, if not the biggest problem, at European level”, he stated.
On the other hand, the MEP also highlighted the fact that the report highlights the importance of building modular homes, stating that they have a “durability of dozens of years” and could help respond to the housing crisis. “We have to adapt to new times, because things change and, fortunately, they change for the better, because they make [a habitação] cheaper and with high quality living conditions”, he said.
In turn, PSD MEP Sebastião Bugalho, who also belongs to this committee, indicated, in a written response to Lusa, that this “is the first report specifically on the housing crisis in the EU”. “The report highlights two clear priorities: increasing supply (namely through regulatory simplification, accelerating licensing) and supporting demand (especially for the youngest and most vulnerable)”he said.
Bugalho also added that the report defends the need to reinforce investment by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and other financial institutions in the sector and seeks to understand how the increase in energy and materials costs can be overcome. The PSD MEP says he hopes the report will be approved this Monday by committee, “even if it is politically sensitive, because it involves matters of sovereignty of the Member States”.
If approved on Monday in committee, the report would then be submitted to the European Parliament for a vote in the March plenary session. Isilda Gomes states that, if the European Parliament approves this report, it would then be sent to the European Commission with the expectation that “it will be put into action”. “Everyone considers that this is one of our biggest problems and that it is urgent to respond. We still have very important work to do and we have to mobilize everyone”he requested.
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