Housing in Europe

Here’s how it works:

1. Learning Phase (Asynchronous) – Explore the DECIDIM platform to read, watch, and reflect on expert contributions at your own pace. Learn about housing challenges, national contexts, and innovative solutions before the live session.

2. Deliberation Phase (Live small groups, Nov 12, 11:00-13:00 CET) – Join a small, multilingual group led by an experienced facilitator to share experiences and explore a focused sub-topic.

3. Recommendation & Voting Phase (Proposals) – Collaborate with your group to draft proposals, then vote on the recommendations you believe will have the most impact.

4. Closing Plenary & Results (Nov 20, 14:00-15:00 CET) – Reunite to discuss the top-voted proposals and celebrate the insights generated by this diverse, Europe-wide assembly.

🏠 A Challenge We All Share

Whether you live in Lisbon, Vienna, London, Brussels or Athens, housing affects everyone’s life. The numbers reveal a profound and uneven challenge:  between 2015 and 2024, house prices across the EU-27 rose by over 50%, while rents increased by 28% between 2010 and early 2025. These figures are not just statistics - they affect daily life, from renting a first home to maintaining community ties.

However, the situation varies sharply across Europe. While many cities in Southern and Western Europe face severe affordability crises, several in Central and Northern regions remain in a fragile “moderate” zone, according to the Eurocities Pulse Mayors Survey. Today, nearly one in ten urban households in the EU spends more than 40% of their disposable income on housing. This share is even higher among young people, low-income households, and foreign nationals, who are often disproportionately burdened by high housing costs. Meanwhile, one in three non-EU residents lives in overcrowded housing, compared to 14% of nationals.  

Yet each country responds differently to the same questions: Should we build more homes or strengthen tenant protections? How can we ensure fair access for everyone? How can we balance tourism with residents’ needs?

This assembly is your chance to explore these different approaches. Various experts will share contrasting perspectives — from social housing models to community-led initiatives — through short videos and articles available before the live session. Then, you’ll discuss these real-world examples with citizens from other countries and communities, exchanging experiences and shaping shared recommendations.

🌍 Why Your Voice Matters

You’re part of something special: the first of a series of digital democracy experiments bringing together multilingual audiences from across Europe, with the aim of putting AI tools at the service of translation of not just words, but of cultural meanings as well, helping participants communicate across languages, improve political dialogue, and strengthen inclusion

Your experience matters because:

• You know what works (and what doesn’t) in your own housing context.

• You bring insights others may never consider.

• Policies succeed when they reflect real people’s diverse needs and values.

🤝Join the Conversation

Your experience matters. Whether you’ve faced housing discrimination, lived in overcrowded conditions, or watched your neighborhood change because of tourism, your perspective is essential for creating fair, inclusive policies.

Join citizens from across Europe in this groundbreaking experiment in digital democracy. Together, we’ll show that when diverse voices collaborate, we can build better solutions for everyone.

📋 To take part, please complete the Recruitment Survey to confirm your participation.

This assembly is part of the MultiPoD project, funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe program, pioneering new ways for multilingual and multicultural communities to take part in European democracy.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions? Read the FAQS