ERGO NETWORK RESPONDS TO THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING PLAN
This past December, the European Commission released the first-ever European Affordable Housing Plan, aiming to ensure better access to affordable, sustainable, and quality housing across the European Union. The Plan sets out a series of measures to boost housing supply, mobilise investment, support reforms, and address the needs of the most affected groups.
ERGO Network has long engaged with the right to adequate, affordable and desegregated housing for Roma communities across Europe – see, for instance, our comprehensive report from 2023 on Roma access to quality and affordable housing. Our research consistently shows that Roma experience disproportionate levels of housing deprivation, overcrowding, segregation, forced evictions, and discrimination in the housing market. In light of these realities, we reviewed the Affordable Housing Plan and its accompanying Staff Working Document to assess what it means for Europe’s Roma.
We welcome the fact that Roma are explicitly mentioned as a group particularly affected by the housing crisis. However, this reference appears only once and is not followed by concrete measures, despite strong evidence – including from the Commission’s own Staff Working Document – that nearly half of Roma live in housing deprivation, and that discrimination in the housing market remains widespread. Additionally, there is virtually no attention paid to structural racism, segregation, informal settlements, or forced evictions.
The Plan places strong emphasis on boosting supply, cutting red tape and mobilising investment. While these elements are important, the housing crisis is framed primarily through shortages and market inefficiencies, rather than through unaffordability, inequality, and discrimination. There are welcome references to increasing social housing and supporting the most affected, but no clear safeguards to ensure that EU funding will support desegregation, prevent displacement, or prioritise the most marginalised communities.
Although the Staff Working Document acknowledges discrimination and the severe housing conditions faced by Roma and Travellers, these concerns are not mainstreamed into the core measures of the Plan. Moreover, the absence of explicit links to the Union of Equality and the EU Roma Strategic Framework weakens the Plan’s transformative potential.
The Affordable Housing Plan contains important and positive elements, including commitments to strengthen housing data, support social housing, and address housing exclusion. However, without a stronger rights-based approach and concrete measures targeting structural discrimination, the Plan risks falling short for Roma communities.
ERGO Network will continue to advocate for a stronger focus on Roma rights and inclusion in the implementation of the Affordable Housing Plan, and stands ready to engage constructively in ensuring that EU housing initiatives deliver real improvements for Roma across Europe.
For more information on ERGO Network’s work on Roma access to housing and energy, please contact Senior Policy Adviser Amana Ferro – a.ferro@ergonetwork.org
