The diversity of local, regional and national housing traditions and systems creates a unique fabric of housing provision all over the EU. Nevertheless, the Global Financial Crisis led to massive decline in investments in affordable and social housing in Europe to half of pre-crisis level. A steep and continuous increase in house prices and market rents characterizes most EU cities and urban areas; housing markets being fragmented to a great extent, with great distortions and obvious evidence of failure. A growing number of EU citizens, from low to middle class incomes, face overheated housing markets, affordability limits, housing cost overburden, low quality, overcrowded housing situations and are at risk of eviction.

The EU has more than 220 million households, and an alarming number of 82 million Europeans are overburdened by housing costs. Cities, urban areas, regions, countries all over the EU are in urgent need of stable framework conditions to house their populations. They are in search of reliable and long-term political, legal and financial instruments to create or support national and local housing strategies. The main challenges are to provide new and renew existing housing, find building ground for affordable housing, develop neighbourhoods in partnership with citizens and set up housing schemes where they are not implemented yet. Housing policies do vary substantially from one Member State to another, from one region to another, from one city to another, depending on the history and culture of public intervention in each Member State and on the prevailing economic and social conditions. State intervention, especially in the form of public investment in affordable housing, has declined substantially in the last decade, whereas demand is steadily growing in European cities.