Commission consults on revised state aid rules to improve access to affordable housing

The European Commission has today opened a public consultation on the review of state aid rules to assist Member States in the field of affordable housing. This review of the rules on services of general economic interest (SGEI) will address challenges related to housing affordability beyond social housing. The aim is to enable EU countries to support affordable housing more quickly and easily by revising Decision 2012/21/EU (“SGEI Decision”). This adds to the Commission’s efforts to address citizens’ housing needs, and also includes a proposal for a European affordable housing scheme.

Any interested citizen, company, public body or association can contribute to the public consultation until 4 November 2025 via DG COMP’s website.

Review process of the SGEI Decision

However, as recognised in the Commission’s Policy Guidelines, the current state aid rules are not adapted to allow Member States to effectively address the various challenges related to housing affordability beyond social housing.

This revision will provide Member States with a new tool to address the urgency of the housing crisis, while respecting the principle of subsidiarity, by allowing them to adapt these rules to their specific contextual needs.

To this end, a new category of exemption is added to the SGEI Decision for affordable housing, 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, due to market conditions and in particular market failures, are unable to access housing on affordable terms”. The Decision includes specific requirements for services of general economic interest relating to affordable housing.

The new SGEI Decision also proposes sectoral changes concerning essential medicines, as well as the aviation and maritime sectors. The revision also contains changes to update and simplify the rules.

Public consultation and next steps

The draft SGEI Decision is the result of a public consultation and a call for data held in June and July 2025. The Commission received more than 120 responses to the call for data and more than 140 responses to the public consultation.

The proposal is also based on a “reality check” meeting, where stakeholders and Member States provided information on the actual situations and the main obstacles to the application of state aid rules in the housing sector.

The open consultation will help the Commission to assess, in a collaborative, transparent and inclusive manner, how the SGEI Decision should be amended to facilitate investments in affordable housing.

The feedback received through this consultation and wider stakeholder involvement will inform the ongoing SGEI Decision. The Commission will adopt the revised SGEI Decision before the end of the year.

General context

The problem of housing affordability is not only limited to lower income groups. It now also affects a wider part of society due to a number of factors, such as increasing demand in urban areas, rising housing costs, shortage of housing supply, ageing housing stock, regional economic disparities and short-term and tourist rentals.

In response to this pressing housing crisis, the Commission plans to introduce a European Plan for Affordable Housing by the end of 2025, aimed at complementing housing policies at national, regional and local level, while maintaining the principle of subsidiarity.

Among the key initiatives envisaged, the Commission is reviewing state aid rules to facilitate the financing of affordable housing solutions.

More information: European Commission