The number of homeless people has doubled in a number of European countries in recent years, particularly between 2010 and 2023. On 27 March, the Congress organised a debate on the subject, which drew a very large turnout from its members, all of whom were concerned about the rising cost of housing and determined to seek effective multi-level solutions.
The UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, confirmed the urgency of the problem of homelessness, highlighting a series of aggravating factors such as income inequalities, the lack of sufficient indexation of wages, social benefits in the context of rising rents and a trend towards the individualisation of households. Citing the report of the European Committee on the housing crisis, as well as the UN report on the subject for which he was one of the co-rapporteurs, he denounced the criminalisation of homelessness and the practices that result from it as a violation of human rights. By urging local and regional authorities to adopt the Housing First strategy, which consists of providing people with decent housing before dealing with other problems such as employment, drug addiction, alcoholism, etc., he called on them to invest in the construction of social housing.
Johannes M. Böhmer, Vice-Governor for the Social Development Strategy of the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), emphasised that the cost of the consequences of homelessness in terms of health and even crime is much greater than the investment required to ensure decent housing for all. For years, the CEB has been investing in social housing construction projects and collaborating with a range of international and national organisations to apply the European Social Charter, which includes preventing homelessness. Calling on the United Kingdom and Austria –which have not yet joined the CEB's partial agreement – to do so, the Vice-Governor reiterated the importance of multi-level solutions within the framework of national strategies with strong political will, such as that of Sweden.
The youth delegates were particularly active during the debate, bringing together more than 20 participants and drawing attention to the vulnerability of young people and those in vulnerable situations in terms of housing, such as national minorities, members of the LGBTIQ+ community and migrants.
See also: Combatting homelessness in towns and cities is a priority for the Congress
Mediabox interview with Olivier De Schutter
Addressing homelessness in towns and cities
***
