European Affordable Housing Plan
European Commission plan published 16 December 2025 committing to phase-two STR caps proposal by Q4 2026.
Last refreshed: 20 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
What does the EU's affordable housing plan promise to do about Airbnb by the end of 2026?
Timeline for European Affordable Housing Plan
Presented by Jørgensen on 16 December 2025; named annual night caps and seasonal rules as candidate tools
Nomads & Communities: Jørgensen plan queues Q4 STR caps as phase two- What is the European Affordable Housing Plan?
- The European Affordable Housing Plan is a European Commission policy package published on 16 December 2025, covering social housing investment, building renovation, and a commitment to propose EU-level short-term rental quantity caps in Q4 2026.Source: European Commission
- When will the EU propose short-term rental caps across Europe?
- The European Commission committed in the Affordable Housing Plan (December 2025) to publishing a legislative proposal for EU-wide STR quantity caps in Q4 2026.Source: European Commission, Affordable Housing Plan
- Why doesn't the current EU STR Regulation cap the number of Airbnb properties?
- The EU STR Regulation (2024/1028) was deliberately scoped to data transparency only, as member states could not agree on binding quantity caps during negotiations. The Affordable Housing Plan acknowledges this gap and schedules a second legislative phase with caps for Q4 2026.Source: European Commission
Background
The European Affordable Housing Plan was published by the European Commission on 16 December 2025 under Housing Commissioner Dan Jørgensen. Alongside measures on social housing investment and building renovation, the plan committed the Commission to proposing a second legislative phase of the EU STR framework in Q4 2026, intended to introduce cross-EU STR quantity caps that the current STR Regulation (2024/1028) deliberately stopped short of .
The plan was the Commission's first comprehensive response to the housing affordability crisis that has made home ownership and renting increasingly unaffordable across EU capitals and tourist cities. It acknowledged that the existing STR Regulation addressed transparency but not supply: platforms now share data, but cities have no EU-level tool to cap the number of STR properties.
The Q4 2026 legislative proposal is expected to be contentious, as it would require member states to accept EU-set ceilings on a fundamentally local policy question. Industry groups have already begun lobbying against mandatory caps, while housing advocates argue that data transparency alone has not reduced rental prices in any European city.