The full text of the appeal follows.<\/p>\n
As Europe increases its military spending, we are witnessing a steady depletion of resources allocated to welfare, housing, and the reduction of inequality. Today, the housing crisis stands as one of the continent’s most severe social emergencies, exacerbated by the financialization of housing policies, a chronic shortage of public housing, and systematic disinvestment in social services.<\/p>\n Millions of people are currently enduring precarious living conditions or facing homelessnessHomelessness<\/span> In termini sociali e internazionali per Homelessness<\/strong> si intende il fenomeno delle persone senza dimora<\/span><\/span><\/span>, while an enormous stock of real estate remains vacant, often held solely for speculative purposes. This contradiction is unacceptable: the right to housing must be recognized as a fundamental human right. It must be guaranteed through structural public policies, the social repurposing of vacant properties, and a firm crackdown on real estate profiteering.<\/p>\n Housing rights movements, trade unions, and associations have denounced these dynamics for years, demanding concrete measures: a moratorium on evictions, strict rent controls, and massive investments in public and community-led housing\u2014giving absolute priority to the rehabilitation of existing but unused public and private properties. Furthermore, we demand urgent and rigorous interventions ahead of the late-2026 legislative proposal on Short-Term Rentals, which is essential to halt the touristification that is actively emptying our cities.<\/p>\n We therefore express our strong opposition to the resolution on the right to housing recently approved by the European Parliament in plenary session, as it completely fails to address the structural root causes of the crisis or provide meaningful relief for genuine housing distress.<\/p>\n Three Fundamental Priorities<\/strong><\/p>\n We urgently need a clear, unambiguous definition and criteria at the EU level that:<\/p>\n \u2022 Distinguishes public housing with social rents from “affordable rent” housing, ensuring that priority funding is directed toward public housing to actively combat poverty and social exclusion. <\/strong>We call for the creation of an autonomous European fund, backed by adequate multi-year financing, explicitly dedicated to:<\/p>\n \u2022 Major renovations and structural maintenance of public housing units, particularly in urban outskirts and marginalized areas. <\/strong>Ahead of the upcoming Housing Summit in July 2026 and the launch of the European Housing Alliance, we demand the formal and structural inclusion of civic networks, tenants’ unions, and residents’ organizations in European decision-making bodies. It is vital that the lived realities of those experiencing the housing crisis daily act as a formal counterbalance to the pressure exerted by real estate lobbies.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n For a Europe that prioritizes people over militarization and real estate speculation.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On the Road endorses the European appeal for the right to housing and against the misuse of public funds, recognising housing as an essential condition for building pathways towards inclusion, autonomy and participation in community life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":16405,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":""},"categories":[284,19],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ontheroad.coop\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/67b5b11f-713f-4c38-94db-eec2ab2069b5.jpg\")
\nEUROPEAN APPEAL FOR THE RIGHT TO HOUSING AND AGAINST THE MISUSE OF PUBLIC FUNDS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n\u2022 Establishes transparent socio-economic criteria for accessing both social and affordable housing, setting legally binding regulation for affordability, sustainability (combining quality, energy efficiency, and environmental performance), and permanent public and collective ownership of social housing units, with subsidized rents to be allocated as a priority to the most socioeconomically disadvantaged citizens. These rent levels shall be set with specific criteria based on the international benchmark recognized by the United Nations, known as the \u201c30% Rule\u201d and with priority and targeted public support for the most vulnerable cases for whom an outlay of even just 10 or 20% of their monthly income is particularly burdensome.
\n\u2022 Secures adequate, multi-year funding to increase public housing units across all Member States through the repurposing of vacant properties, strictly avoiding further land take.
\n\u2022 Prevents the misuse of public funds for speculative operations or non-vulnerable demographics. To this end, we demand that this definition be made binding for the new EIB Investment Platform expected by the end of the year.<\/li>\n
\n\u2022 Energy efficiency retrofitting, prioritizing public residential buildings leased to vulnerable households. We insist that the upcoming 2027 “Simplification Package” must not be used as a pretext to roll back protections.
\n\u2022 Direct financial support for public housing providers, local authorities and collaborative schemes.
\n\u2022 The development of renewable energy communities in public housing empowers low-income households, turning them from passive consumers into active prosumers.<\/li>\n