欧盟委员会发布《可负担住房法案》(Affordable Housing Act)官方问答：为住房紧张地区的短租、第二套房和长期空置限制提供欧盟层面的证据与比例性框架，并明确该法案不禁也不限制短租

European Commission - Questions
and answers
Questions and answers on the Affordable Housing Act
Brussels, 9 September 2026
Why is the European Commission putting forward the Affordable Housing Act?
Housing has become too expensive for many people in the EU. A June 2025 Eurobarometer found that
40% of Europeans see affordable housing as an immediate and urgent problem where they live, rising
to 51% in cities.
While affordability pressures differ sharply across the EU and within Member States, Europeans face a
common challenge: there are not enough homes where people need them most, at prices they can
afford. This has a significant impact on people's ability to live where they work, to young people's
ability to leave their parents' homes and build their life and it also poses economic challenges as
labour and educational mobility is limited.
Housing use also matters. In some cities, metropolitan areas, islands and tourist destinations, a
significant share of housing is not used as primary residence. This creates pressures on both the cost
and availability of housing. In certain areas, a substantial part of non-primary use is short-term rental
activity, which has grown rapidly in recent years. Between 2018 and 2024, activity nearly doubled,
with 93% growth across the four major platforms. The situation varies widely across Europe, but
short-term rentals appear to be much more concentrated in areas under the highest pressure. For
example, in central Madrid, there are around 40 short-term rentals for every 100 homes in the long-
term rental market.
The Affordable Housing Act helps public authorities protect housing affordability and availability in
areas facing the greatest pressure. For the first time, it gives them a clear, common European
framework for identifying areas under housing stress and taking targeted, proportionate
action based on local evidence. Ultimately, decisions about housing policy will remain with national,
regional and local authorities.
The Affordable Housing Act delivers on the European Affordable Housing Plan which was put forward
by the Commission in December 2025. It is one component of broader efforts that the European
Commission is putting in place to help Member States tackle the housing crisis, which requires
sustained actions on investment, housing supply, simplification and better use of the existing housing
stock.

What is the added value of the EU action?
Housing policy choices are made at national, regional and local level. However, measures
affecting services, investment and property use must also comply with EU Single Market
rules.
Across the EU, public authorities are increasingly taking action that affects services, investment and
property use to protect housing affordability. These measures already must comply with EU
requirements, including requirements on non-discrimination, necessity and proportionality.
The current legal framework - broad Treaty principles, the Services Directive and case law – is not
always sufficiently operational for applying those requirements in complex local housing markets. This
has led to legal uncertainty, different approaches and repeated litigation.
National and local authorities have repeatedly called for greater legal certainty. The European Court of
Auditors noted that national authorities wanted clearer guidance on how to assess measures under
the Services Directive. In addition, several Member States and major European cities raised concerns
about legal uncertainty and the risk of litigation during the consultation on the Affordable Housing

Act.
The Affordable Housing Act aims to make existing EU-law principles clearer and easier to apply, so
that decisions across the EU are based on evidence and remain proportionate.
For housing-related measures covered by Affordable Housing Act, it also replaces the current
notification procedure under the Services Directive with a framework specifically tailored to areas
under housing stress, combining clearer proportionality and transparency requirements with duration
limitations and regular review. This simplifies procedures for public authorities while providing
greater legal certainty.
At the same time, national, regional and local authorities remain free to decide whether and how to
act in their own housing markets. Measures pursuing other public-interest objectives, such as public
security, consumer protection, environmental protection or the protection of cultural heritage, remain
outside the Affordable Housing Act and continue to be governed by the relevant existing EU law.

Does this give the EU competence over housing?
No. Housing policy remains primarily a responsibility of Member States and their national, regional
and local authorities, and the Act does not harmonise housing policies or give the EU a new
competence over property law or urban planning. The EU is acting to ensure the proper
functioning of the Single Market, because measures taken by public authorities to address housing
pressures can restrict Single Market freedoms and have increasingly resulted in divergent national
approaches, legal uncertainty and litigation. The Act therefore sets common requirements for
assessing the justification, necessity and proportionality of such measures under EU law, while leaving
the decision whether an area is under a housing stress, whether to intervene, and which measures
are available under national law, to the competent authorities.

Who will benefit from the Affordable Housing Act?
The Affordable Housing Act will bring greater legal certainty and clearer rules to address
housing pressures, benefiting public authorities, citizens and businesses across the EU. Cities and
other public authorities will have a clear European framework for taking action where housing is
being lost from long-term residential use, using local evidence and measures tailored to the pressures
they face.
People looking for a home stand to benefit from action that helps keep more homes available for
people who want to live in them, particularly in areas where short-term rentals, second homes or
prolonged vacancy are significantly aggravating housing pressures. Homeowners and hosts will be
protected against unjustified or excessive restrictions: measures must be targeted and proportionate,
property rights must be respected, and measures must be targeted at activities that demonstrably
contribute to housing pressures rather than broad or arbitrary restrictions. Short-term rental
platforms will benefit from safeguards better aligned within the Single Market, ensuring that any
restrictions are evidence-based and limited to what is strictly necessary, following a transparent
assessment and subject to regular review. Authorities must properly apply and enforce the EU Short-
Term Rental Regulation and use the data it provides to assess the impact of short-term rentals on
housing affordability and availability.

What are “areas under housing stress” and how is the Commission proposing to support
them?
In certain areas, especially cities and tourist hotspots, intensifying competition for limited housing
stock has been driving up prices to levels that are unaffordable for local people.
The Affordable Housing Act establishes a common methodology based on objective and transparent
evidence. It begins with a pre-screening based on the price-to-income ratio (PTI) to assess whether
house prices are becoming less affordable relative to incomes. This is followed by a more detailed
assessment of local housing-market conditions, including housing supply and demand, as well as
relevant demographic and population trends. Where available, authorities can use more granular local

data to identify pressures that regional or national averages may hide. In this way, the common EU
methodology is combined with local evidence and local decision-making.
Crucially, the Commission does not determine which areas are under housing stress . This
remains the responsibility of the competent national, regional or local authority, which applies the
common methodology to its own housing market. The assessment must be evidence-based,
geographically targeted, transparent and regularly reviewed, taking account of relevant local housing
market conditions. Such an assessment is only required where an authority intends to introduce
restrictions under the Act.
The accompanying Recommendation helps authorities tackle the underlying housing shortage in areas
under housing stress, with a strong focus on increasing supply. It promotes Housing Acceleration
Plans to unlock land and housing supply, speed up permitting, and make better use of existing
buildings and land. It also encourages authorities to make full use of available EU and national
funding and investment instruments to accelerate the delivery of social and affordable housing.

How will the Affordable Housing Act impact short-term rentals?
The Affordable Housing Act is designed to help local authorities make more housing
affordable and available. It is not about regulating any particular platform or business
model.
In some cities, neighbourhoods and tourist destinations, the share of STRs listed on the four main
online platforms can be significant. The Affordable Housing Act recognises that STRs do not aggravate
housing pressures everywhere, indeed, they can also offer many benefits, such as additional income
for households or support for renovation. Local authorities must first prove, using evidence, that there
is a problem in their area.
The Regulation does not ban or restrict Short-Term Rentals. If authorities decide that action is
needed to protect housing affordability and availability, they must show that the short-term rental
activity is having a significant adverse effect on the local housing market. Authorities must assess
local housing stress using the common methodology and, where they choose to act, demonstrate with
evidence that the activity concerned contributes to local housing pressures.
The focus is on activity that, by reason of its scale, frequency or commercial character, is more likely
to reduce housing available for long-term residential use. The Affordable Housing Act complements
the EU Short-Term Rental Regulation, which is applicable since May 2026. That Regulation improves
registration, data collection and data sharing, while the Affordable Housing Act provides the
framework for assessing and justifying housing-related measures affecting Short-Term Rentals.

Will this encourage authorities to introduce new restrictions?
The Affordable Housing Act neither requires, prescribes nor recommends restrictions and
the inclusion of a type of measure within its scope does not mean that such a measure is
automatically lawful or justified. The proposed Regulation introduces greater discipline and
clearer safeguards where authorities choose to act: they must demonstrate housing stress and,
where required, a significant adverse effect on affordability or availability over at least three years;
show that the measure is necessary and proportionate and that less restrictive alternatives would not
be equally effective; target it appropriately; respect legal certainty, legitimate expectations and
fundamental rights; limit the duration of the measures to maximum 5 years and regularly review
them. Restrictions cannot substitute for measures addressing the structural causes of
housing shortages, notably building and renovating more.

Is the EU restricting the purchase or use of second homes?
The Affordable Housing Act does not introduce any EU restriction on the purchase or use of
second homes (or indeed on STRs), nor does it give national, regional or local authorities new
powers to do so. Such measures already exist in different forms in a number of Member States and
may affect the free movement of capital and other Single Market freedoms.

The Act establishes a common European framework that authorities must respect if they choose,
under powers available to them under national law, to adopt measures affecting the acquisition or use
of housing for non-primary residential purposes on grounds of housing affordability and availability.
Any such measure must be based on evidence of a significant adverse effect on housing affordability
or availability, be non-discriminatory, necessary and proportionate, appropriately targeted and limited
in time, and respect fundamental rights, including the right to property. The Act protects legal
certainty and legitimate expectations: conditions linked to acquisition cannot apply retroactively,
appropriate transitional arrangements must be provided, and measures addressing long-term vacancy
should take into account justified periods of non-occupation.

What happens to measures already in force?
Measures adopted before the Affordable Housing Act enters into force are not subject to
the new Regulation. They continue to be governed by the EU and national rules applicable to them.
Competent authorities may, however, choose to review an existing measure in accordance with the
new Affordable Housing Act framework. This avoids reopening measures already adopted while
allowing authorities to use the new framework voluntarily where they consider it useful.
What does the Commission recommend that Member States do to increase housing supply
in areas under housing stress?
Tackling the housing crisis requires a collective effort that will need to be sustained. Effective action
requires authorities at all levels to act on several fronts: increasing supply, simplifying and
accelerating housing delivery, attracting investment, increasing the capacity and productivity of the
construction sector, and making better use of the already-existing housing stock.
The Affordable Housing Act and the accompanying Recommendation play complementary roles. The
Regulation helps authorities respond to immediate pressures on housing affordability and availability
demonstrated at local level. The Recommendation, alongside the wider European Affordable Housing
Plan, supports the sustained increase in housing supply needed to address the structural causes of the
housing crisis.
The Recommendation helps public authorities prepare Housing Acceleration Plans to unlock land
and housing supply. This can include better land use and spatial planning, faster permitting, and the
renovation, extension and conversion of existing buildings. It also promotes the use of vacant and
underused housing and land, as well as measures to deliver social, affordable and student housing
more quickly. The Recommendation also encourages authorities make full use of available
EU and national funding and investment instruments to increase housing supply and the
possibilities offered by EU State aid rules. It also calls for action to strengthen the capacity of the
construction sector, including through greater productivity, innovation and industrialised construction
methods, so that additional investment can translate more quickly into new and renovated homes.

For more information
Press Release
QANDA/26/1793
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