By Thomas Møller Christensen, AAU Communication and Public Affairs
Photo: Rikke Skovgaard Nielsen

The European Union is in the midst of a housing crisis: rising prices and a shortage of homes are widening inequalities between rich and poor - and between city and countryside. To help tackle the problem, the European Commission has set up a new Housing Advisory Board tasked with producing concrete recommendations on how more Europeans can afford a home.

Rikke Skovgaard Nielsen, a Senior Researcher at BUILD - Department of the Built Environment, has been appointed as one of the board’s 15 members.

“Across Europe, we see prices running ahead of people’s wages, homes left empty as investment vehicles, and cities where ordinary people are being pushed out. It’s therefore crucial to find solutions that both make housing affordable and allow for a decent quality of life,” she says.

Danish expertise on an European stage

Rikke Skovgaard Nielsen brings many years of experience in housing policy and social sustainability. She was selected from a pool of more than 200 applicants, in part because she researched Denmark’s social housing sector - a model often highlighted internationally.

“In Denmark, we have a social housing sector that’s for everyone, not just for vulnerable groups. It includes approaches ranging from funding renovation to strong resident democracy - elements other countries can learn from,” she explains.

BUILD is distinguished, she says, by its interdisciplinary, applied approach. The institute works closely with practitioners so that research is quickly translated into practical solutions.

"We collaborate closely with practitioners so that research doesn’t remain just theory but can feed directly into real projects. That makes it possible for me to offer recommendations that are both academically solid and practically feasible,” she says.

Practical fixes and political courage

The advisory board, made up of academics, policymakers, and practitioners, has already held an initial online meeting and will convene in person in Brussels on September 1. In the months ahead, members will collect evidence and draft concrete recommendations for the EU’s first European Affordable Housing Plan - a comprehensive strategy to expand access to affordable homes.

Some changes can be rolled out quickly, Rikke Skovgaard Nielsen notes: making better use of the housing stock already in place or tightening rules on properties kept deliberately empty as investments. However, deeper structural shifts - such as tax reforms and new models of ownership - will take time and political courage.

She also warns against reducing the housing challenge to price alone:

“Affordability must always be seen in relation to housing quality and life quality. It’s not enough to build something cheap if it isn’t a place where people can genuinely live and thrive,” she says, pointing to housing size, transport links, and local services as key indicators.

EU housing plan set for 2026

The board’s upcoming recommendations must be applicable across the EU without undermining well-functioning national systems or harming rural areas and the climate.

“It’s tempting to say we should just build more, but that doesn’t solve the underlying problems. Thoughtless construction can burden the climate and widen the urban–rural divide,” Rikke Skovgaard Nielsen warns.

The board aims to produce a short, operational report with clear, usable proposals the Commission can act on.

“We will deliver our report by the end of the year, and I hope the Commission will use it as a basis when it presents its housing plan in 2026 so the recommendations can translate into concrete policy choices,” she says.