Luxembourg Introduces New Measures for Construction Sector, Housing

On Wednesday 31 January 2024, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, Luc Frieden, the Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning, Claude Meisch, and the Minister of Finance, Gilles Roth, presented the first package of measures adopted at the Council of Government of the same day.

Since 9 January 2024, the interministerial team – represented by Minister Meisch, Minister Roth, the Minister of the Economy, SME, Energy and Tourism, the Minister of Home Affairs and the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity – met in individual interviews with the various representatives of the construction and housing sector. The ministers and their teams spoke with the Luxembourg Chamber of Trades, SYVICOL (Syndicat des Villes et des Communes Luxembourgeoises), the Order of Architects and Consulting Engineers (Ordre des architectes et ingénieurs-conseils - OAI), the Federation of Social Sector Actors in Luxembourg (FEDAS), Luxembourg's real estate chamber (CIGDL) and the Mieterschutz Lëtzebuerg / Association de défense des locataires de Luxembourg (Association for the defence of tenants of Luxembourg).

The stated objective is to carry out in-depth dialogues, aimed at developing a set of measures to revive the construction sector and facilitate access to housing, while also addressing the cyclical and structural problems of housing. Various measures acting in the short, medium and long term have been developed over the last three weeks in collaboration with public and private partners. These measures concern individuals as much as the construction sector and investors, the Luxembourg Ministry of State, the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning and the Ministry of Finance noted.

The Prime Minister stressed that the measures pursue a triple aim: to strengthen the construction and craft sector and therefore create jobs; increase the supply of housing and support people to acquire or rent housing.

“This first package of measures directly supports households – both tenants and home buyers. At the same time, public investments to sustainably increase the public stock of affordable housing are considerably increased. The continuation of exchanges with all the interlocutors looks promising,” highlighted Minister Meisch.

Minister Roth expressed confidence: “It was important for us to act quickly to restore confidence in the construction sector and maintain employment. I am confident that the package of measures will make it possible to reverse current trends by the fall. At the same time, it will provide financial support to individuals looking for accommodation.”