European Affordable Housing Act
EU Regulation proposed 9 September 2026 setting when authorities may restrict short lets.
Brussels tabled the European Affordable Housing Act on 9 September as Regulation COM(2026) 599; under it, short lets could be curbed only in areas where an average dwelling costs eight or more years of per-head disposable income.
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Timeline for European Affordable Housing Act
Set the income test and evidence conditions for short-let limits
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The European Affordable Housing Act is a draft EU regulation, COM(2026) 599 of 9 September 2026, governing when public authorities may limit short-term rentals. It is the second stage of EU short-let law, after Regulation 2024/1028 set up host registration and platform data sharing. Article 10(1)(e) lets only an authority that already enforces registration under that earlier regulation use the new powers.
As a regulation, it must pass both the European Parliament and the Council before it binds. In Barcelona, mayor Jaume Collboni welcomed it as support for letting roughly 10,000 tourist-flat licences expire in 2028.
The Act's three-year evidence test depends on official data. Eurostat's 2024 figure of 854 million EU guest-nights drew on four platforms, and its 2025 figure of 951.6 million on three, which understates like-for-like growth. Eurostat's 2 October release put platform nights at 258.8 million in April to June, up 5.3% against 17.6% a year earlier.
The Act rations short-let restrictions
Published on 9 September, the text fixes when a city or region may curb short lets for housing reasons. Eligibility turns on price: an average home must cost at least eight years of per-head disposable income. A curb must rest on three years of evidence of housing harm, and it expires after five years unless renewed. Measures already adopted when the Act takes effect are exempt under Article 14.
The September draft drops two tools the December 2025 plan had promised. Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen's European Affordable Housing Plan of 16 December 2025 named Barcelona and Paris as models for annual night caps and seasonal rules; the September text contains neither. Three industry bodies, the European Holiday Home Association, CCIA Europe and EU Travel Tech, objected that the draft has no Independent oversight and no reliable data behind it.