The EU executive is preparing sweeping regulations targeting short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, as Brussels seeks to respond to what it calls a deepening social emergency over unaffordable housing across the continent.

In an interview for The Guardian and other European outlets, Dan Jørgensen, the bloc's first-ever housing commissioner, said the European Commission plans to introduce new rules to curb short-term rentals and tackle the "huge problem" of online accommodation platforms reshaping local housing markets.

"If we don't, as policymakers, take this problem seriously and acknowledge that this is a social problem and needs action, then … the anti-EU populists will win," Jørgensen said, warning that the Commission had "failed to deliver" on several key elements of the housing crisis.

Short-term rental crisis

Appointed in 2024, Jørgensen has been tasked with drafting the EU's first affordable housing strategy, now expected in December, two years ahead of schedule. "It is time for Brussels to treat housing as a matter of European competence," he said, insisting that the issue can no longer be left solely to national governments.

"One of those areas is short-term rentals, where we do need more European rules," he added, noting that such rentals had become "a huge problem in many cities." While he did not name specific platforms or outline the forthcoming measures, the commissioner said the EU must move quickly to prevent further erosion of housing affordability.

The spread of tourist rentals has been blamed for driving up prices and displacing residents from historic centers in cities from Lisbon to Amsterdam. According to Eurostat, between 2010 and 2023, house prices across the EU rose 48 percent and rents 22 percent, with even steeper surges in Estonia, Lithuania, and Ireland. Nearly nine percent of EU citizens now spend 40 percent or more of their income on housing.

Settlements scandal

The commission's action comes as Airbnb and Booking.com face mounting global criticism. Both platforms have been accused of enabling property speculation, ignoring consumer protection rules, and, most controversially, profiting from listings in Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land.

A 2025 Guardian investigation found more than 760 rental listings in such settlements on Airbnb and Booking.com, generating income for Israeli hosts on what rights groups describe as "stolen Palestinian land." Many of the listings appeared under "Israel", concealing their true location in the West Bank. Human-rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have denounced the practice, arguing that it helps normalize and finance illegal settlement activity. Booking.com is also the subject of a criminal complaint in the Netherlands alleging that it profited from property rentals in these territories in violation of international law.

Read more: Cyprus faces outcry over Israeli real estate surge, sovereignty fears

Housing market overhaul

Jørgensen said the forthcoming housing plan will also address the "financialization" of housing markets. "It is clear that when housing becomes a commodity, something that is used for speculation with no need to take into consideration the rest of the society, then of course that potentially causes problems," he said.

The commission is examining national models that require developers to reserve a portion of new projects for affordable homes and is considering loosening state-aid rules to allow governments to subsidize or offer tax breaks for social housing.

Several radical proposals are also under debate: Spain has suggested a 100 percent tax on property purchases by non-EU residents, while socialist lawmakers advocate banning foreign real-estate acquisitions altogether.

Jørgensen declined to name specific spending targets but hinted at the scale of ambition: "We are talking about very, very big numbers." He noted that recent budget revisions increased EU housing funds from €7 billion to €15 billion to help leverage private investment.

Housing summit

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen created the housing portfolio in 2024 to secure socialist backing for her second term, as the cost-of-living crisis dominated European politics. Last month, she called for "a radical overhaul of the way we tackle this issue" and announced plans for the first EU housing summit to keep housing "at the top of our agenda."

EU leaders are expected to debate the new strategy at their upcoming summit. While some governments stress that national housing markets vary widely, Jørgensen compared the crisis to the pandemic response: "So as it happened with the Covid crisis, when we stand in new situations we need to also redefine the role of the European Union," he said.