One of the new commissioners in Brussels will tackle a topic that voters care deeply about — but where the European Union has hardly any power: housing.

“How can you be in charge of something that doesn't happen within the EU's competence, for which it has no money, which is entirely dependent on national economic policies? Seems crazy,” said Giles Merritt of the think tank Friends of Europe. “Nobody is saying there isn’t a big problem, but is it up to the Commission to fix, and if so how?”

Soaring costs to buy and rent property have been a political sore point and an election issue this year. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this summer promised a housing plan and a commissioner to take charge of the problem, a boon she offered the Socialists as she sought support for her reelection.

Federico Tomasone of the left-leaning German think tank Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung isn’t sure what this person will do, since housing is largely a national or even a local issue.

“What technically this new commissioner will do is, for the moment, quite open and not so clear,” he said. “In Europe, we have really different [national] housing policies.”

David Rinaldi, who works on housing at the Socialist-backed think tank the Foundation for European Progressive Studies, said the person could focus on potential funding for housing as well as standards and regulations as part of the Green Deal building renovation push.

He also suggested there could be an EU-level plan on housing where governments would get deadlines to meet Commission targets in return for funding.

Von der Leyen has previously mentioned revising state aid rules to allow more help for “affordable, energy-efficient and social housing.”

This could answer a Dutch push to broaden support for social housing — which is provided to the poorest — to also cover some housing for low-income workers such as teachers, nurses and police officers. 

Merritt said this might be as good as it gets. The Commission can’t “build houses, nor can it get involved in any of the mortgage or rental markets,” he said. “What it has is its ability to create a sort of policy network on best practices.”

House builders and developers are more skeptical. Build Europe President Andreas Ibel said housing should remain a local issue. While the EU can offer broad solutions, such as deregulation and finance, the details “must be decided in the regions,” he said.