GENEVA, Switzerland – A United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) study demonstrates that in Europe housing stress affects over one-third of those in the lower 40 percent of the income bracket, and while the severity of affordable housing shortages varies significantly between countries, many households spend upwards of 45 percent of their income on housing expenses.
These burdens also most greatly affect newcomers to the housing market, a cohort disproportionately composed of groups such as immigrants, young families, older persons, and single-parent households.
In response, over 30 ministers and high-level government representatives from across the region convened this week in Geneva on the occasion of the 86th Session of the UNECE Committee on Sustainable Development, Housing and Land Management to reaffirm housing as a human right and adopt actionable commitments to increase housing accessibility.
This calls for accrued public investment and the expansion of the stock of public, cooperative, social and community-led housing models, as well as unlocking private sector funding through green bonds, sustainability-linked loans, community land trusts or blended finance instruments. They further commit to adjusting land value taxation to make land policies more equitable; and regulating short term tourist rentals to reduce speculation.
The Ministerial Commitments stress the “urgent need for integrated, inclusive and forward-looking strategies that address the housing emergency”, and lay out concrete commitments to improve housing access. Acknowledging the dynamic, diverse and context-dependent character of housing challenges as well as important linkages to economic growth, equitable employment, education, health, and essential services, ministers warn that the financialization of housing has led to increased speculation and insufficient public and private investment.
UNECE executive secretary Tatiana Molcean stated:
“By adopting these commitments, Ministers and high-level representatives of UNECE member States send a powerful message that housing affordability and sustainability are fundamental priorities and that our region stands united in tackling them through international cooperation, evidence-based policy, multi-level governance, and above all, equity and inclusion.”
Chair of the ministerial meeting, Martin Tschirren, state secretary, director-general of the Federal Office for Housing, Switzerland, stated that, “without general access to affordable, high-quality needs-based housing, many social and economic problems can arise, affecting different areas of public policy such as education, health, transport and environment. Almost all countries are confronted with a shortage or lack of housing in general and affordable housing and housing construction in particular. This is why international exchange on these issues is so important, including through collaboration with the UNECE committee on urban development, housing and land management, to share ideas, best practices and insights.”
Building on the commitments and the messages conveyed by the 5th UN Forum of Mayors this week, ministers highlight the need to empower local governments to implement sustainable, affordable, and climate-resilient housing policies by ensuring adequate legal, policy and financial support.
The UN Forum of Mayors is the only body that links local and national authorities within the intergovernmental structure of the United Nations system. The Forum enables mayors to make recommendations that directly contribute to UNECE’s normative and policy work on urban development, housing and land management through a more inclusive multilateral governance.
Ministers commit to increasing the supply of affordable, sustainable housing through national and local strategies by prioritising retrofitting, as well as promoting new construction models that integrate climate resilience and mitigation, energy efficiency and innovative building technologies. They further highlight that tackling housing affordability challenges requires regenerative densification of urban space by redeveloping vacant or underused sites and adaptive reuse of existing buildings.
Other commitments include improving the legibility of housing issues through increased collection and sharing of geospatial data, including 3D models of the built environment.
Ministers further reaffirm the importance of housing as an international priority both within the Sustainable Development Goals and the Geneva UN Charter on Sustainable Housing.
The committee on urban development, housing and land management will report on the progress towards the commitments at its annual sessions and agree on follow-up actions.
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