“Having a home is not a luxury: it is a human right.” It was with this statement that European Commissioner Dan Jørgensen set the tone for the conference held this Friday, January 30, 2026, in Lisbon, on the European Plan for Affordable Housing. The statement was made at Lisbon City Hall (CML), alongside the city’s mayor, Carlos Moedas, who at the same time called on Brussels for a Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) dedicated exclusively to housing.
In a speech marked by a serious and empathetic tone, Dan Jørgensen began by expressing solidarity with Portugal in the face of the recent tragedy caused by Storm Kristin, which affected the country, stressing that the European Union (EU) will stand “side by side” with the affected families. He then quickly brought to the center of his remarks what he considers one of the greatest challenges facing Europe today: the housing crisis.
The Commissioner responsible for Energy and Housing recalled that the first step had been taken before Christmas, with the presentation of a plan aimed at creating more affordable housing. “We need cities where ordinary people, with normal jobs – nurses, teachers, police officers – can live close to where they work. Having a home is not a luxury: it is a human right. And a home is much more than a roof over one’s head: it is the foundation for life and for the future.”
“Europe is facing a serious housing crisis and this is probably one of the issues that most concerns European citizens at this moment,” the Commissioner stated. It is in this context that the European Commission is, for the first time, assuming direct responsibility in this area, through the creation of the European Plan for Affordable Housing, the first Community-wide strategy dedicated exclusively to responding to the housing crisis affecting the majority of Member States.
To respond to the crisis, the Commissioner highlighted the need to mobilize public and private investment, announcing the creation of a European platform that will bring together investors, public authorities and social partners with the aim of accelerating the construction and availability of affordable housing. At the same time, he revealed that the Commission has changed state aid rules in order to reduce bureaucracy and speed up public support for housing projects.
The European representative also added that Brussels is analyzing new rental models and innovative solutions, with the potential to be replicated in different European cities. “We will soon present concrete proposals to respond to this urban challenge,” he said, stressing that the crisis requires a comprehensive and long-term approach.
Lisbon emerges in this process as a pilot city. According to the European Commissioner, the Portuguese capital was chosen to launch the plan due to the high volumes of public investment contracted by the municipality and the positive execution of available funds, particularly those from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).
At the end of the conference, Dan Jørgensen stressed that this is only the beginning of a process that will require ongoing cooperation between the European Commission, Member States and local authorities. “This is an important step,” he concluded, “but the real challenge will be to turn this political ambition into real changes in people’s lives.”
Carlos Moedas calls on Brussels for an RRP for housing
Dan Jørgensen and Carlos Moedas
Carlos Moedas, Mayor of Lisbon, and Dan Jørgensen, European Commissioner
Getty Images
Following the press conference, Carlos Moedas argued for the need for the European Union to move forward with a new Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) dedicated exclusively to housing. The mayor stressed that the funds currently contracted have an execution deadline of June 2026 and warned that, without a new European financing framework, many structural responses to the housing crisis will be compromised.
Moedas highlighted that Lisbon faces housing pressure above the European average, with rents having increased by 64% over the past ten years, while incomes grew by only 22%. “We have increased rents much more than Europe,” he said, explaining that this gap has forced the city to adopt, over the past four years, an action plan based on the same pillars now defined by the European plan: increasing supply, mobilizing investment and providing immediate support to families.
Regarding the increase in supply, the mayor stressed that after a decade in which virtually no public housing was built, Lisbon has delivered 3,200 homes since 2021, many of them resulting from the rehabilitation of vacant properties, and currently has more than one thousand housing units under construction. He also mentioned major structural projects, such as Vale de Santo António and Vale de Chelas, which could allow for the construction of more than 5,000 homes, while emphasizing, however, that “the participation of the private sector is indispensable” to achieve scale.
As for immediate responses, Carlos Moedas highlighted direct support for rent payments, which already covers 1,872 families, ensuring that no household with an income close to one thousand euros per month has a housing cost burden exceeding 30% of its income. “The City Council pays the difference,” he explained, arguing that this is a matter of social justice. In closing, he expressed explicit thanks to the European Union, stressing that the €560 million investment mobilized in Lisbon was only possible with European funds, and reiterated that the capital is ready to lead, alongside Brussels, a structural response to the housing crisis.