European Union countries must provide more support to their economies in order to increase the supply of affordable housing. With this in mind, the European Commission wants to relax state aid rules, which will no longer have to be notified.
A public consultation to this effect was launched this week. “This review of the rules on services of general economic interest will address challenges related to housing affordability that go beyond social housing,” the institution said in a statement quoted by the Lusa news agency. “The aim is to enable EU countries to support affordable housing more quickly and easily.”
The creation of a new category “allowing state aid to be granted without the need for notification to the Commission” is proposed. This definition is based on “housing for households that are unable, due to the functioning of the market and, in particular, market failures, to access housing on affordable terms.”
The Observer points out that current rules allow Member States to support the creation of affordable housing, especially social housing for vulnerable families, without compensation limits, but these rules are becoming outdated as the housing crisis spreads to more market segments.
At the same time, European Union state aid rules regulate how countries can provide financial support to specific companies and economic sectors, ensuring that such aid does not distort competition in the internal market through excessive subsidies and that there are fair conditions. But there are exceptions, such as situations of public interest.
The European Commission has brought forward to the end of this year the creation of a European Plan for Affordable Housing to complement housing policies at national, regional, and local levels, while maintaining the principle of subsidiarity, which is a competence of the Member States. This plan includes financing, state aid, or limits on local accommodation.
More EU funds are to be allocated to this sector, particularly from the cohesion or long-term budget. There is also an intention to review the rules on state aid for housing projects and the rules on tourist rentals.
This public consultation runs until November 4 and is available on the European Commission's website.
Image credits: © Adrien Olichon | Unsplash
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
