Description
The European Commission launched a public consultation on 3 October on the revision of state aid rules to help Member States ensure affordable housing. The revision of the rules on services of general economic interest (SGEI) will address housing affordability challenges that go beyond social housing. The aim is to enable EU countries to support affordable housing more quickly and easily through a revision of the SGEI Decision (2012/21/EU). This will contribute to the Commission's efforts to address the housing needs of European citizens, which will include a proposal for a European plan for affordable housing.
All interested parties, citizens, companies, public authorities or associations can contribute to the public consultation until 4 November 2025 via the DG Competition Policy webpage at https://competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/public-consultations/2025-sgei_en?prefLang=it&etrans=it
Review process of the SGEI Decision
As set out in the Commission's policy guidelines, the current state aid rules are not adequate to enable Member States to effectively address the various problems related to access to affordable housing beyond social housing solutions.
The revision will provide Member States with a new instrument to address the urgency of the housing crisis, while respecting the principle of subsidiarity, allowing them to adapt these rules to the specific needs of their context.
To this end, a new exemption category for affordable housing is added to the SGEI Decision, allowing State aid to be granted without notification to the Commission. The new definition in the SGEI Decision is as follows: 'Housing for households which are unable, due to market conditions and in particular market failures, to afford affordable housing'. The decision provides specific conditions for services of general economic interest related to affordable housing.
The new SGEI decision also proposes sectoral changes concerning critical medicines and the air and maritime transport sectors. The revision also includes changes to update and simplify the rules.
Public consultation and next steps
The draft SGEI Decision is the result of a public consultation and call for input held in June and July 2025. The Commission received over 120 responses to the call for input and over 140 responses to the public consultation.
The proposal also benefited from a stocktaking meeting where stakeholders and Member States provided input on real-life situations and the main obstacles to the implementation of state aid rules in the housing sector.
The current consultation will help the Commission to assess, in a collaborative, transparent and inclusive way, how the SGEI Decision should be amended to facilitate investment in affordable housing.
The results of the consultation, in a context where stakeholders will be extensively involved, will feed into the ongoing revision of the decision. The Commission will adopt the revised SGEI Decision by the end of the year.
General context
The problem of access to affordable housing does not only concern the lowest income groups of citizens. It now also affects a wider section of society due to a variety of factors, including rising demand for housing in urban areas, rising housing costs, housing supply shortages, an ageing housing stock, regional economic disparities, tourism and short-term renting.
In response to this severe and pressing housing crisis, the Commission plans to introduce a European Affordable Housing Plan by the end of 2025, aimed at integrating housing policies at national, regional and local level, while maintaining the principle of subsidiarity.
Among the main initiatives planned, the Commission is reviewing state aid rules to facilitate the financing of affordable housing solutions.
Source: European Commission
Image owner: European Parliament