EU plans new rules for Airbnb-style rentals

Bloc’s first affordable housing plan aims to tackle speculation, tenant rights, and the social fallout of tourist lets

The European Commission is preparing new rules to curb the impact of short-term rentals such as Airbnb and Booking.com, framing housing as a “social crisis” that risks fueling populism if left unaddressed. The move marks the EU’s first major intervention in housing policy, part of a broader plan to make homes more affordable and limit property speculation.

Key takeaways

• New EU housing push: The European Commission will propose its first-ever affordable housing plan, accelerated to December 2025 from 2026, to address rising rents and housing shortages across member states.
• Focus on short-term rentals: Platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com are blamed for inflating rents and driving residents out of city centers. The Commission plans EU-wide rules to limit their social and market impact.
• Widening affordability gap: Between 2010 and 2023, EU house prices rose 48% and rents 22%, outpacing inflation. Nearly 9% of Europeans now spend 40% or more of their disposable income on housing.
• Financialisation under scrutiny: The plan will address housing as a commodity, aiming to curb speculative investment and encourage affordable home construction through national regulations and state incentives.
• Potentially radical measures: Ideas under discussion include easing state-aid rules for housing subsidies, a proposed €300bn EU housing fund, and restrictions on foreign real-estate purchases in some member states.
• Political urgency: Rising living costs have strengthened far-right and nationalist parties. Housing commissioner Dan Jørgensen warned that ignoring the crisis would allow “anti-EU populists” to dominate the debate.
• Von der Leyen’s political calculus: The housing portfolio was created in 2024 to secure Socialist backing for her second term. A first EU housing summit is planned to keep the issue high on the agenda.
• Broader ambition: Jørgensen compared the current crisis to the Covid pandemic, arguing the EU must “redefine its role” in housing as it once did in health policy — signaling a potential shift toward shared European responsibility for affordable homes.

Get the full story at The Guardian