Young people across Europe cannot be expected to build their future at home if access to housing remains too expensive, too slow and too complicated, Borboly Csaba, Vice-President of Harghita County Council and EPP-CoR member, warned in the context of the [Y] Factor: Housing for You[th] project.
The project, developed by the Autumn 2025 trainees of the European Committee of the Regions, highlights the housing challenges faced by young people across the European Union, focusing on affordability, living standards, tourism pressures, rural challenges and discrimination. Through data, local and regional best practices, and testimonies from young people, the exhibition gives visibility to a crisis that is affecting not only Europe’s cities, but also its small towns, villages and rural regions.
Speaking about the reality in Harghita County, Borboly Csaba underlined that the lack of accessible housing is forcing many young people to leave their home regions, even when they want to stay.
“A young man from my county finished university, found a job at home and wanted to build his future there with his partner. But the bank said no, the permits took months, costs kept rising, and their savings ran out. Then their first child was born, and the father had to go back abroad to work and send money home for a flat he could not yet live in. A father missing the first steps of his child — not because he wanted to, but because the system made it impossible to stay. This is not one story. I have seen this many times in Harghita County,” said Borboly Csaba.
He stressed that housing must be treated as a core condition for territorial cohesion, family life and the future of Europe’s regions. “Housing is not a comfort issue. It is not a nice-to-have. For young people today, it is the question of whether family life is even possible at home. If Europe wants young people to stay, especially outside the big cities, then access to housing must become a political priority,” he added.
Borboly Csaba also warned against one-size-fits-all solutions, noting that the housing crisis takes different forms across Europe. In large cities, young people are often pushed out by speculation and short-term rentals. In tourist areas, local workers struggle to live near their jobs. In rural and mountain regions, such as Harghita County, the challenges include empty houses that remain unrenovated, weak rental markets, poor transport connections and limited access to bank loans for young families.
To address these challenges, he called for targeted measures that respond to local realities: affordable housing for young professionals in small towns and villages, faster renovation of empty buildings, simpler procedures, and EU funding that reaches local and regional authorities more directly.
“There is no single European answer to this. Local problems need local solutions. EU funding must be faster, simpler and closer to real people. Empty buildings exist in many regions — we should renovate them and make it easier for young families to live there. Above all, we must stop making policies for young people without young people,” Borboly Csaba said.
He concluded that Europe must recognise the urgency of the issue if it wants young people to remain in their communities.
“The young father I spoke about is not a number in a Eurostat table. He is Europe’s future. And right now, Europe is making it very hard for him to stay. We can change that — but we must start by admitting that the system is failing young families, especially outside the big cities and especially in regions like mine. Let us fix it together,” he said.
Background
The [Y] Factor: Housing for You[th] project was developed by the Autumn 2025 trainees of the European Committee of the Regions. The exhibition explored five dimensions of the youth housing crisis in Europe: affordability, living standards, tourism pressures, rural challenges and discrimination. It combined research, best practices from local and regional authorities, personal testimonies, data visualisations and interactive elements to raise awareness and encourage discussion on youth housing across the EU.
The EPP-CoR established the EPP-CoR Network on Housing to bring together EPP-led villages, cities and regions, exchange good practices and develop practical solutions that deliver results for citizens. The EPP-CoR also adopted the Badalona Declaration on housing which stresses the need of a place-based approach that empowers local and regional authorities, the need to unlock public and private investment, cut unnecessary bureaucracy and accelerate housing construction and renovation.