Construction 2050 Alliance calls for action on delivering housing solutions
On 9 April 2024, the Construction 2050 Alliance, of whom UIPI is an active member, held an event titled Call for action: Delivering housing solutions organised together with the Urban Intergroup at the European Parliament.
This event was the occasion to present and publish the Alliance’s Open Letter on Housing Crisis to alert the declining state of housing in the EU, given the alarming crisis across the Member States.
Joined by MEP Jan Olbrycht (EPP, Poland), chair of the Urban Intergroup, several stakeholders part of the Alliance, including UIPI, and representing the Construction sector, took stock of the current landscape prone to different rather critical challenges and barriers, and discussed possibilities and sector’s impact to alleviate the crisis. Further collaborative efforts, namely between EU institutions and Member States, to create optimal conditions for much needed new constructions were promoted throughout the panel.
From UIPI’s perspective there is a mix of factors that contribute to generating the perfect storm that currently represents the housing market. A decline in interest from Europeans to own their own home, combined with the rise in house prices by almost 50% in 12 years (from 2010 to 2022) and a lack of new construction projects (due to administrative reasons such as declined permits, a rise in construction costs or a lack of skilled workforce), which together with overall economic uncertainty clearly depicts the need for a coordinated approach at all levels of authorities and through all sectors.
During the event Emmanuelle Causse, Secretary General of UIPI, stressed that “because of the lack of competences on housing at the EU level, there is a lack of holistic approach on the added value of housing while housing is a balancing act that requires coordination. What we don’t need is fragmentation between sectors; on the contrary, we need stronger collaboration to meet the challenges of housing in Europe!”
The Construction 2050 Alliance is a partnership established in 2020 made of more than 50 European organizations representing the actors of the built environment working together to advance the needs and priorities of the wider construction and built-environment sector at the EU level.
The Urban Intergroup is a cross-parties and cross-committees grouping with a horizontal approach to discuss urban related issues. It brings together over 90 Members of the European Parliament representing most EU Member States, all the political groups at the European Parliament, and working in all the parliamentary committees. It works with 139 partners from local, regional, national and European level that represent the interests of Europe’s town and cities or work in the domain relevant for urban development. UIPI is also a member of the Intergroup.
