The Right to Housing: Crisis and Social Solutions

Across Europe, the housing crisis is transforming more than just the real estate market — it is changing the way cities and communities live, breathe, and evolve. Rising rents, the financialization of housing, and the growing dominance of short-term rentals are reshaping neighbourhoods, pushing long-term residents further away from city centres and eroding the social and cultural fabric that once defined them. Young people are increasingly unable to afford to live in the places where they grew up or studied, while local shops, cafés, and cultural spaces, sustained by the rhythm of everyday life, struggle to survive as stable residential populations decline. The crisis is not only economic; it is social, cultural, and democratic, affecting who can participate in the life of a community and who is gradually excluded from it.

At the same time, housing has become a field of growing political urgency. Across Europe, movements of tenants, local organisations, and public authorities are demanding a shift in priorities — from housing as a speculative asset to housing as a public good and a human right. The European Parliament, the International Union of Tenants (IUT), and a range of civic networks have put forward policy objectives that reflect this need for change: recognising housing as a fundamental right, ensuring that housing costs remain within affordable limits, expanding the stock of social and affordable housing, counteracting financial speculation in the housing market, and regulating short-term rentals that distort local economies. These proposals are only part of a broader agenda to protect communities, guarantee equal access to housing, and promote sustainable urban development that places people before profit.

Local and regional organisations play a crucial role in this transformation. They work on the ground to defend the right to housing, advocate for fairer policies, and strengthen community resilience. Their actions — from mutual aid networks to cooperative housing projects — show that another way of living together is possible, but also that it requires coordination between citizens, municipalities, and European institutions. Housing policy, when rooted in local realities, becomes a tool for self-determination: it enables communities to shape their own future and preserve their identity amid market pressures and global forces.

It is within this context that the workshop “The Right to Housing: Crisis and Social Solutions” will take place on Saturday, October 18th, 2025, in València. Designed as a space for reflection, exchange, and collective action, the event will bring together local residents, activists, experts, and social organisations to discuss how the housing crisis is reshaping our communities and to explore solutions that can restore balance, fairness, and stability. Through keynote presentations, roundtable discussions, and participatory workshops, participants will share experiences, identify best practices, and develop concrete proposals for change — from local innovation to European policy reform.

By joining this workshop, participants will contribute to a shared effort to reassert housing as a right, not a commodity, and to build communities that are inclusive, resilient, and sustainable. This is more than a conversation about housing — it is a conversation about the future of our cities, about who they belong to, and how we can ensure that they remain places for living, working, and belonging for everyone.

Practicalities:

Date & time:

Saturday, 18 October 2025 – 09:00 – 13:45

Venue:

Col·legi Major Rector Peset, Plaça del Forn de Sant Nicolau 4, 46001 València.

Language:

The event will be conducted in English, Spanish and Catalan. Interpretation will not be provided

Accessibility:

The venue is wheelchair accessible

Contact and press:

Media inquiries can be adressed to info@ideasforeurope.eu

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This event is a joint initiative between Fundació Nexe and Coppieters Foundation.

Implemented in Collaboration With:

• Generalitat Valenciana – Aci Ara (Valencian Government initiative)
• Universitat de València
• Col·legi Major Rector Peset (CMRPESet)

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This event is financially supported by the European Parliament. The European Parliament is not liable for the content of the event nor for the opinions of the speakers.

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