Enjoying decent and adequate housing is a right recognized in our current legal framework.
It also establishes a mandate for public authorities to make that right effective. The House Action congress is precisely about this second aspect — about finding ways to make that right a reality. About identifying and sharing the solutions and practices that, at the local, regional, and national levels, are being implemented in the Basque Country, in Spain, and across Europe.
The reality we face in our daily lives is one of increasing difficulty in accessing housing. Rents that consume a substantial share of people’s income, processes of gentrification and the displacement of long-time residents from city centers, or the rising average age of emancipation caused by the continuous increase in housing costs.
What can be done? In Spain, over the past few years, a collaborative solution has been developed between municipalities and regional governments, made possible by Law 12/2023 on the Right to Housing. This solution is structured around the declaration of stressed areas, and the application of rental increase caps within them, to cool down price surges in the market.
Is this the only possible solution? No — and that is the main value of the House Action congress: that experts, representatives of municipalities from Spain and Europe, regional governments, and financial institutions can present and share their visions and experiences in housing policies, as well as the results achieved through their implementation.
Only by bringing together diverse perspectives and the best experiences—many of them tested and refined over decades—can we find a solution to a problem that has long ceased to be individual and has become one that affects society as a whole. And as citizens, we must find collective solutions to it.
