European Parliament to tackle housing production 'bottlenecks'

The European Parliament formally adopted the report on Tuesday, with 367 voting in favour, while 166 voted against the report. File picture 

The European Parliament has approved a new report on housing, calling for cuts to red tape, increased private development, and more action on homelessness.

The report, negotiated by MEPs, says “bottlenecks” that prevent houses from being built should be removed from EU and member state legislation.

MEPs called for the European Commission to propose a “housing simplification package”, which would reduce administrative processes and cut down on overlapping regulations.

Other recommendations include stronger protections for tenants, including calling upon national governments to improve transparency in the rental sector. The report says this could be done by requiring rental platforms to outline average rent prices in a given area to ensure there are no “disproportionate rent increases”.

The report adds there should be an “efficient and incentive-based tax system” for housing policy at national level, including incentives for construction.

The European Parliament formally adopted the report on Tuesday, with 367 voting in favour, while 166 voted against the report.

Labour’s Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, who led negotiations for the Socialists and Democrats grouping, said the report proves the EU can act on housing, while highlighting measures for renters.

“Ireland is among the worst performers in Europe when it comes to renters’ rights, and this report can be the first step in lifting the floor for tenants in Ireland and across Europe,” he said.

He highlighted recommendations on short-term rentals, which include calls to allow public bodies to ask platforms such as Airbnb to remove illegal listings.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher welcomed the report’s approval, saying that all EU states face issues with housing.

“For me, if the EU only did just three things: relaxed state aid rules for investment by national governments, made access to finance for developers cheaper, and helped simplify the planning and permitting systems, it would have a transformative impact on housing supply across the 27 member states,” he said.

However, Sinn Féin said the report falls short of providing “genuine” solutions to the housing crisis

Ireland South MEP Kathleen Funchion said the calls for reduced regulation, lower taxes for construction, and more private sector investment is the same approach as taken by the Irish Government.

“The EU are going down a dangerous path of following the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael into pro-developer policy that will only contribute to a longer crisis,” she said.

The report comes after the European Commission published its own housing plan in December, which outlined proposals to relax state aid rules and increase investments from the European Investment Bank.

It also comes after housing minister James Browne confirmed €40m would be provided to local authorities to bring 2,200 vacant social homes back into use.

• Tadgh McNally is a Political Reporter.