Why is housing so critical to hiring? 

“The numbers tell a painful truth. House prices are up by more than 20% since 2015. Building permits down by over 20% in five years. This is more than a housing crisis. This is a social crisis. It tears Europe's social fabric. It weakens our cohesion, and it also threatens our competitiveness. Nurses, teachers and firemen cannot afford to live where they serve. Students drop out because they cannot pay the rent. Young people delay starting families. This is why still this year, after receiving your input, we will present the first-ever European Affordable Housing Plan, to make housing more affordable, more sustainable, and of better quality. It will be an European effort anchored in local realities. We need a radical overhaul of the way we tackle this issue. We need to revise our state aid rules to enable housing support measures. We need to make it much easier to build new houses and student residences. And we will also propose a legal initiative on short-term rentals to tackle the remaining issues. So we need all of society, all lawmakers, all stakeholders to come together and in this spirit, we will convene the first European Housing Summit to ensure it is at the top of our agenda. Honourable Member, housing is a dignity. It is about fairness. It is about Europe's future. Eight years ago, the European Pillar of Social Rights made housing a social right in Europe. So it's time to turn this promise now into reality.” President von der Leyen - 10.09.2025