Building Freedom: Liberal Solutions to Europe’s Housing Crisis

Europe’s housing crisis is one of the most urgent challenges of our time. In liberal societies, secure and accessible housing is more than an economic good. It is a cornerstone of personal freedom, civic participation, and social stability. When home ownership becomes unattainable for many, it undermines equality, weakens democratic trust, and turns property from a shared foundation of liberty into a mark of privilege, threatening the very fabric of liberal democracy.

This study, published by the European Liberal Forum in partnership with the European Policy Innovation Council (EPIC), brings together liberal perspectives on how to respond to these challenges. The future success of housing in Europe will not be built through paperwork, but through ambition. Let us make Europe the continent that made it possible for everyone to afford a home and build a life.

Andres Jaadla, Member of the European Committee of the Regions, rapporteur on Housing and Chairman of the Estonian Union of Co-operative Housing Associations, shares his opinion on subsidiarity in action: why cities and regions must lead on housing.

“By modernising our housing stock, we simultaneously fight poverty, strengthen competitiveness, and accelerate the green transition. No other single policy domain offers such leverage.”

“Ultimately, this crisis cannot be solved from the top down. It will be solved from the ground up, in town halls and municipal councils, by mayors and regional governors who know the names of the streets and the faces of the residents.”

Read the article on pages 58-60 here: Building Freedom: Liberal Solutions to Europe’s Housing Crisis