00:10Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
00:30Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
01:06Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
01:15Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
01:18Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
01:28Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
01:31Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
01:33Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
02:42Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
03:45Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
03:48Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
09:28Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
12:01Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
12:31Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
14:03Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
17:03Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
19:03Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
19:05Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
19:06Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
19:08Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
19:39Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
19:43Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
19:45Μεύτε μαζί μας να πάμε το επίσης σε μια μια μερικασήση για να μείνουμε στην εξουσία.
19:51Ευχαριστώ για να πάμε στην ΕυρωΝεύτερη σφυγή συγκεκριμένη.
20:06Ήταν Maeve Μαχμανου, και όμως μου πρέπει να πάμε στην Ευρωπαϊκή Ευρωπαϊκή Ευρωπαϊκή Ευρωπαϊκή Ευρωπαϊκησία,
20:12Υπότιτλοι AUTHORWAVE
20:42So let me welcome to the ring Dirk Gautink and Maria Ohisalo.
20:45Good to see you.
20:47I think the core question right now is why are housing costs rising faster than wages almost everywhere?
20:56One of the key questions is the speculation, financialization of housing market,
21:01that homes are not considered primarily as human rights,
21:04but as asset classes for big hedge funds, companies, private investors.
21:09And then just saying that we should build and get more investors to the market,
21:14this will not solve the problem.
21:16We need more affordable housing and available housing for everybody.
21:20But somebody has to build them, right?
21:22Exactly.
21:22And this kind of state-sponsored sort of subsidies will only drive up more of the prices.
21:27We want to fix the problem in the market because building materials are getting very expensive,
21:33which is one of the reasons why housing prices go up.
21:37But also governments try things like rent controls and all kinds of other stimulating,
21:42demand-stimulating measures that also drive up prices.
21:45Because what happens if you can get more money from the bank?
21:49That is, that the sellers of houses will start increasing their prices.
21:53And this is not financial speculators.
21:55These are citizens who have paid their entire lives to buy one or maybe a second house,
22:00and then you treat them as if they're criminals.
22:04And if they're not allowed to sell, they can be self-speculators.
22:07I did not say that only public investment will solve the problem.
22:12But we have no experience of any country in the world that could have solved the housing crisis
22:16by only building more private housing.
22:20No, we need a mixed model.
22:22And also tackling the short-term rentals, which was also in the insert.
22:26This is a key question, not only in the southern Europe, but also back home, up north in Rovaniemi, Lapland.
22:33This is a place where students can afford to live in the city center anymore
22:37because it's packed of short-term rental homes.
22:39Well, homes are being built, as we speak, not only at the places where we need them most.
22:46Why is that so?
22:47Well, the problem with Europe is that there's no one-size-fits-all.
22:50That's why we cannot have one single policy on housing, and we don't want that.
22:55Because local authorities like mayors and municipalities, but also regional authorities,
23:01they need to be on the front line of solving the housing crisis.
23:05In Europe, we can help them.
23:08We can help them with things like what I said, making sure that the market for building materials works,
23:15changing state aid rules, because indeed we need a mixed approach of public and private investment
23:21so that we can also invest in middle-class affordable housing.
23:26because your introduction said it was mostly the lower salaries that had problems, lower income groups,
23:32but in fact it has become a generalized middle-income crisis in Europe.
23:36Well, the problem is that we also have a lot of vacant homes around Europe,
23:41especially the ones that are used for speculative reasons.
23:45And this is where the governments can step in.
23:47EU can actually be there to inform the governments to maybe introduce vacancy taxes,
23:54maybe introduce different taxes for speed-up sellings,
23:59so that you should maybe maintain the home for two years or three years,
24:03and then after that sell it.
24:05Then one problem is also that when we then state subsidize affordable housing,
24:10after 20, 30 years, these homes are actually sold into the market.
24:14And this is also a huge problem, so that when state is subsidizing something,
24:19they should maintain affordable and they should maintain the state subsidized.
24:24Okay, and it's time for our fifth and final round.
24:32We want to do something different here.
24:34I'm going to ask you a set of questions,
24:36and you can only answer with a yes or no, if that's okay.
24:42Can the EU meaningfully act when housing policy is mostly national or local?
24:48Yes.
24:49Yes, definitely.
24:51Okay.
24:52Should Brussels take a stronger coordinating or funding role?
24:55Yes.
24:56Yes.
24:57Funding, yes.
24:58Coordinating, no.
24:59No.
24:59Should governments impose strict rent controls to limit price increase?
25:05Show me where it worked.
25:08We have different opinions about this in our political group here in the parliament.
25:12Personally, I would say no.
25:14No.
25:15Should foreign investors face limits or bans on buying residential property?
25:21Yes, definitely.
25:22Yeah, we can talk about it.
25:24Okay.
25:25I take this as yes.
25:27Should zoning laws be relaxed to allow denser construction in urban areas?
25:32Yes.
25:34It depends on the set of other legislation also,
25:38when it comes to nature, climate and so on.
25:42Rather no.
25:44Rather no.
25:46Okay.
25:47Should vacant properties be taxed or expropriated to bring them onto the market?
25:52Yes.
25:56In highly populated urban areas, if you leave properties vacant for too long,
26:03I would say personally, yes, you need to be able to nudge the property back onto the market.
26:09Ask what's going on here.
26:10And we already have that possibility in the Netherlands in some places.
26:13And I think you can think about that.
26:16But it's not Europe deciding that.
26:18Yeah.
26:18It's the national authority.
26:20Should the EU allow more public spending and debt to build social housing?
26:25Well, we have.
26:26That is what's being done now in a limited way.
26:29So that's a yes.
26:33Yes.
26:33Yes.
26:33Should home ownership be actively promoted or should policy accept a long-term shift towards renting?
26:41We need both.
26:43Home ownership is the basis for people's stability in life.
26:48and yes, it should be promoted.
26:51Good.
26:51All right.
26:52Last question.
26:53Have you agreed with anything you've heard from your opponent today?
26:59Yeah.
27:00Yeah.
27:00Yeah.
27:01The housing first in Finland.
27:03It's a very successful approach.
27:05Okay.
27:05And I agree that a lot of the problems people are faced with cannot be solved if someone is on
27:11the streets
27:12and they need simply a roof over their heads.
27:15Okay.
27:15I really like the fact that you want to see defence and housing crisis on the same level.
27:20I really want to see this switch in the narrative in the whole European Union level.
27:27Well, that brings this special summer edition of The Ring to an end.
27:31We'll be back very soon.
27:33But in the meantime, let us know what issues you want us to debate here on The Ring.
27:37What's keeping you up at night?
27:39You can write to us at TheRing at Euronews.com.
27:42But for now, thanks so much for tuning in.
27:43Take care and see you soon on Euronews.
27:46See you soon on Euronews.
Comments