We believe everyone is entitled to a home. Our European family will stand up for the right to housing, and fight homelessness. The provision of housing is, and should always be a public good, not a commodity for market speculation.

In Ireland and across Europe housing has become unaffordable and in short supply. Speculators and investors have driven up prices, while short term rentals have priced many out of their own cities. This has driven insecurity for workers and families but Europe can help through collective action to protect people seeking to buy or rent a home and provide more security for those in a home.

If European institutions can manage food security through CAP, it’s time they showed they can do something about housing security – shelter is also a basic need.

The State must provide affordable public housing. All around Europe, cities and other public authorities build and provide quality public housing that is affordable and available to all. In some European cities more than half the population rents high quality public housing. Public housing must become a more common option in Ireland.

Labour is calling for a European Plan for Affordable Housing and we will work to enhance European support for a state-led resolution of Ireland’s housing affordability crisis.

To take on speculation and the financialisation of housing it would include:

• The introduction of a European Plan for Affordable Housing that reforms state aid and fiscal rules to ensure national and local authorities can invest more in public housing.
• More funding to be delivered through EU funds and the European Investment Bank for public housing.

• Anti-speculation policies to target investment and vulture funds accumulating housing, and the explosive growth of short-term apartment rentals.
• Tougher regulations to prevent housing being left vacant and avoid the privatisation of public or social housing.
• Improvements to the safety of buildings by developing an EU wide residential fire safety strategy as part of the wave of retrofitting and renovations to improve energy efficiency.
• Stronger EU programmes to improve energy efficiency of buildings as part of the Renovation Wave building on the work of projected like SHAPE-EU, and for more sustainable, inclusive and beautiful communities as part of the New European Bauhaus Initiative.
• Designation at an EU level of areas vulnerable to energy poverty through audits of building stock, opening up new funding for renovation and energy.
• The development of a single EU market for housing finance to help drive down both construction and mortgage costs for future homeowners.
• Safer spaces for women and girls by ensuring that local areas implement a safe space audit  programme in their communities which looks at safe urban design, proper street lighting and  the elimination of derelict buildings.
• The introduction of affordable and quality housing indicators in the European semester.