There is no place like home, it is where the heart is, and queue the next sentimental idiom those of us lucky enough to live in decent housing can attest to. Unfortunately, an enormous number of Europeans do not have access to decent or quality housing.
There is a shortage of affordable housing causing 25% of our population to live in overcrowded housing with low access to services and the internet. As the dreaded COVID continues to rear its ugly head, the working and educational divide between the poor and better-off has only expanded, a direct consequence of their housing circumstance Not to mention the link between poor quality housing and health (both through toxic materials and those facing a bitterly cold winter). A lack of housing means being excluded from society; our home is inextricably linked to our work situations and our identity within society. Our homes on average cost 20% of our total income, but this can be as much as 40% among poorer groups. In Greece, it can be up to 70%! Homelessness is still an enormous issue, where during lockdown up to 700,000 people were left to live on the streets. This is a solvable problem, so what is being done about it?
Thankfully, the EU Parliament recognize the issue, and a draft (own initiative) report on housing policy from the “EMPL” Committee (Employment and Social Affairs) was written. This draft report as well as a draft (own initiative) opinion by the EESC were discussed at a meeting on the 10th September 2020.
MEP Kim Van Sparrentak of the Greens/ EFA presented the EP draft report in which she pointed to the reasons for the report as the EU-wide housing crisis, in which citizens cannot pay rent and people are losing their homes. She set the ambitious goal for the EU to eradicate homelessness by 2030. Social housing stocks and equitable access for all were high on the agenda, as it is still heavily underinvested. The EESC, therefore, welcomes the fact that principle 20 of the European Pillar of Social Rights reaffirms the right to access essential services. The renovation wave was commented on by most speakers, rapporteurs, and shadow rapporteurs as an important strategy to improve the housing energy costs. This will tackle both the housing market’s immense contribution to climate change and the growing issue of poor quality housing energy costs. However, Miss Van Sparrentak issued her own warning:
