ELEN Secretary-General Davyth Hicks warned about the impact of second homes and the lack of housing on European endangered and minoritised languages at an important European Parliament conference last week (May 21st).
It follows recent visits to Brussels by Gaeltacht representatives organised by Kathleen Funchion MEP (Sinn Féin), to underline how the lack of housing is impacting Irish speakers, followed by an appeal at the Petitions Commitee on the issue by Conradh na Gaeilge, Tintéan and Bánú, organised by Cynthia Ní Mhurchú MEP (Fianna Fáil).
At the conference ELEN used examples from Catalonia, Illes Balears, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany and Ireland to show how second homes hollow out communities driving young people away and how the lack of housing renders any language recovery efforts as futile when minoritised language speakers have nowhere to live.
Hicks underlined that “housing should be considered as a human right, not a commodity, and treated as a community need, like schools or hospitals, rather than a financial asset to make a profit on.”
A key takeaway: countries like Finland, Denmark, and Austria are setting an example in how to deal with the housing crisis—thanks to dedicated funding, coordinated efforts, and, most critically, by recognising housing as a constitutional right. This fundamental principle drives focused, united action from policymakers, NGOs, and communities alike with the Finnish MEP Li Andersson and Swedish MEP Hanna Gedin both discussing effective solutions in their countries. Hicks also highlighted recent measures implemented by the Welsh Government to tackle the second homes problem and the recent cutting edge research on how lack of housing impacts Welsh language communities.
Housing is an increasingly important topic in the EU institutions with the Parliament setting up a special committee on the issue and the European Commission set to propose legislation. ELEN, and its member organisations who are in ELEN’s dedicated working group on housing, will be inputting into the EU proposals so as to ensure that the EU is able to help deal with the impact that the lack of housing has on our languages.
Conference programme with video
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