Budapest mayor says municipalities may receive major EU funds for rental housing projects

Karácsony Gergely used the 13th Lakásmenet event to stress that the housing shortage affecting major European cities is now receiving concrete EU support. He reported a meeting with Raffaele Fittó, the European Commission official responsible for cohesion policy, who affirmed that Budapest will be eligible for sizable funding under an EU flagship programme through 2030. The mayor linked this development to the Mayors for Housing network, which has lobbied for such resources, and to the recent launch of the Tisza-government’s state rental housing initiative.

While long-term projects like the Wekerle Sándor program are in the pipeline, the Fővárosi Közfejlesztések Tanácsa is expected to approve a multi-billion-forint plan for district-level rental construction and renovation in the near term. Karácsony said he will soon write to district mayors to gather their housing plans and allocate the available funds accordingly.