Cities Can Unite To Force National Government Action On Affordable Housing: An EU Perspective

An intriguing, wide-ranging article from Ireland reports on a recent affordable housing conference for European Union cities. The conference was held in Vienna, Austria, which in itself is a city and country worthy of great interest from an affordable housing perspective. Why? Because much of the citizenry have climbed off the affordable housing treadmill.¹

Ireland is a country transfixed by dreams of home ownership, an addictive vision promoted by financial institutions in many developed and developing countries. In nations where that addiction holds sway, worker dollars drain for much of their lifetimes out of their pockets and into profit margins of both financial institutions and free market housing speculators.

Vienna, by contrast, is a city of government-owned properties and renters, which adds up thousands of housing units yearly as residents opt for the convenience and affordability of renting.

Regardless of the shape of housing dreams in European cities, one important conclusion emerged from the conference. National governments are relatively indifferent to the affordable housing crisis that is crippling cities. The proposed solution: a united front of cities pressuring to compel meaningful national government support, if not leadership, in mitigating this crisis.

Read more in The Irish Times: European cities, if united, can create affordable housing

We conclude with a story about the lure of the home ownership dream. Consider the ease with which one country, Romania, almost universally realized the joys of home ownership for a brief time. Now its citizens, too, are facing the affordability consequences. Explore this photo gallery at the BBC: Where 96% of homes are privately owned

1. The affordable housing treadmill? We at affordablehousingaction.org feel it is time to declare that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a housing treadmill, not a housing ladder. Housing ladders exist only for pure investors, who buy and sell housing to climb to the next rung, reaping profits because they do not need to use the housing as personal shelter.