In Berlin, launched a Europe-wide Initiative for affordable housing. EU-citizens can participate in the signature collection, which is supported by the German Confederation of trade unions and the tenants ‘ Association. “We must not leave Europe to the financial markets and economic liberal,” said Reiner Wild by the German tenants ‘ Association.

The initiators are calling on the EU to, among other things, to facilitate social housing and to exempt public investments in housing in the EU rules to the national debt. Non-profit Housing providers will also get faster access to EU funding.

The Initiative for more than a year of time to collect at least one Million signatures from at least seven member countries of the EU. From Germany alone, a minimum of 72,000 would have to get signatures. The Initiative should be successful, the EU Commission and the EU Parliament with the claims apart. Where appropriate, the Commission must develop a proposal for implementation.

“Europe is in a deep housing crisis”

“With the human right to Housing is now speculated, the whole of Europe in a great extent,” said the spokeswoman for the citizens ‘ initiative, Karin Zauner-Lohmeyer. In the result, the people of Europe would be overloaded far from housing costs, cities displaced and at worst homeless. “You can say: Europe is in a deep housing crisis,” said Zauner-Lohmeyer.

Rents and real estate prices in the regions of Europe to increase in many Metropolitan for years, especially low-income households can afford houses. This has to do with the that these cities are attractive, land is limited. Moreover, because, among other things, in Germany, enough housing was available, went back, since the eighties, the Federal government and the local authorities from the social housing, public promotion of housing construction was severely restricted.

From the nineties, some local authorities sold with financial problems, public and publicly funded housing and to private companies. Meanwhile, rents have risen sharply. To the extent that, in Germany, a political debate on the expropriation of private real estate companies. In Berlin, a citizen-launched initiative, which calls for the; in politics this is very controversial.