"The soaring cost of housing is akin to a new pandemic sweeping across Europe, the mayor of Barcelona has said, as he and 16 other city leaders urged the EU to respond to the crisis by unleashing billions in funding for the hardest-hit areas. The EU is expected to present its first-ever housing plan on Tuesday, after consultations with experts, stakeholders and the public. For months, those on the frontlines of the crisis have warned the problem is too big to ignore."
"The new pandemic affecting European cities is called the cost of housing, said Jaume Collboni, the mayor of Barcelona, who launched the Mayors for Housing alliance last year with the support of his counterparts in Paris and Rome. Jaume Collboni described the housing crisis as an unprecedented internal threat to the bloc. And in the face of this new pandemic, European institutions as they did with Covid must allocate extraordinary funds to promote the construction of affordable housing for young people, working families."
Housing costs across European cities have risen sharply, generating a social emergency that affects young people, working families and the urban middle class. Seventeen city mayors formed an alliance representing over 20 million people to press for urgent action and additional resources. The alliance calls for an EU affordable housing fund similar to the Covid-era NextGenerationEU programme to mobilise at least €300bn a year in public and private investment. The EU is preparing its first-ever housing plan after consultations with experts, stakeholders and the public. Rapidly rising rents and property prices are increasing inequality and straining social cohesion in many cities.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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