Housing Action Days
2023 was a year of growing social inequality, xenophobia, the criminalization of poverty and repression against social movements, immigrants and gender and ethnic minorities. It was also a year of major setbacks for housing rights. Across Europe, rising rents combined with rising energy and food costs have pushed people to the edge of their existence.
The trends are the same everywhere: in Portugal, rental costs in Lisbon have reached an incredibly high level and account for around 63% of the average income of residents. In France, millions of people live in poor housing conditions, are homeless or at risk of eviction, while Paris shows its best side for the Olympic Games. In Sweden, migrants are discriminated against and denied access to social housing. In Romania and elsewhere, urban regeneration programs are transforming cities and the built environment into financial assets. People on low incomes are forced to seek refuge in overcrowded houses or informal settlements. Tent camps have become commonplace even in the wealthiest cities and regions of Europe. In the meantime, national governments and European institutions continue to support private investors and the real estate market instead of taking the side of the people.
Everywhere we organize ourselves on different fronts of the struggle. In Prague, we are people affected by homelessness and we are calling for massive government investment in affordable housing. We are tenants all over Europe who have self-organized in new emancipatory unions and neighbourhood collectives. We are fighting against corporate landlords and multinational private investors. We are Roma fighting against institutional racism. We are immigrants defending our unconditional right to the city and to adequate housing. We are people who live in lighthouses and other transient dwellings. We are fighting for the application of the law that guarantees our right to live on public or private land. Instead, we are criminalized, our houses are demolished without any proposal for new accommodation. In Cyprus, Greece, Ireland and Spain, we are poor homeowners fighting against unlawful mortgages that lead to foreclosures or evictions. In Portugal, we are organizing referendums to curb vacation rentals and touristification or to expropriate large landowners. In Serbia, Germany, Portugal and Italy, we stop forced evictions simply by using our bodies. Everywhere we continue to fight to increase the public housing stock by various means in order to remove a large proportion of housing from the real estate market.
This year, we, the European Action Alliance for the Right to Housing and the City, are calling for another joint week of action. Let us vigorously oppose those who deprive us of our fundamental rights! !