European Youth Week highlights housing challenge for the next generation

Over 1,000 young people met in Brussels during the European Youth Week in late-April to share their experiences with the Commission and several other institutions.  

A session dedicated to housing affordability for young people brought together 30 young people from different EU Member States. On the listening side were representatives from The European Parliament, Commissioner Dan Jørgensen’s cabinet, the Commission’s Housing Task Force, the European Investment Bank and Ireland’s Higher Education Department. 

Three young people shared their personal experiences of housing challenges in Hungary and Ireland. They spoke about the broader role of affordable housing in ensuring equal access to education, alternative housing models, tenants’ rights, and discrimination against minorities in the housing market.  

The main concern for this group of young people is housing affordability, alongside quality, safety, comfort, and related stress. Affordability was seen as closely linked to wider issues of equality and poverty, including fair wages, taxation, and access to education.  

When asked what changes they would make if they were in charge of their town or region, young people called for measures to improve housing supply (such as innovative building designs, modular construction, renovation, maintenance, and reuse) as well as stronger regulation. 

MEP Alicia Homs who is member of the Parliament’s Special Committee on the Housing Crisis underlined that affordable housing for students and young people is a key factor for social mobility in the EU. 

From the European Investment Bank, Pierre Antheaume highlighted how they provide the finance and expertise needed to build more innovative, energy efficient and affordable homes, also for students. Ann Gorman explained how Ireland recently launched a Student Accommodation Strategy, that will make it easier to build housing close to campuses and give homeowners incentives to rent spare rooms out to students. 

The Commission presented how several actions in European Affordable Housing Plan will support young people and students on the housing market: 

• Together with the EIB, the Commission is assessing the feasibility of a guarantee scheme to reduce or eliminate the need for a security deposit.  
• Through the youth sub-group of the European Housing Alliance, the Commission will identify and disseminate innovative accommodation models for students and young people.  
• Under Erasmus+, the Commission is developing a housing pilot scheme for mobile students from disadvantaged backgrounds expected in 2027.  

Get involved  

As the Commission rolls out the first ever European Affordable Housing Plan, we invite everyone to take part and make their voices heard. Check housing.ec.europa.eu regularly for the latest updates.