Analysis
The mayors quietly rewriting national housing policy
While national governments debate, a network of city leaders is changing zoning rules one council vote at a time.
Political editor
12 min read
A council session in which three zoning changes passed without debate.
The group chat has 34 members, all of them mayors. It started as a way to share template documents. It has become, by some measures, the most effective housing policy forum in Europe.
In the past two years, cities in the network have legalised apartments above shops, cut parking requirements and approved 60,000 new homes.
Small rules, big effects
Most of the changes are unglamorous. Allowing a fourth floor instead of three. Removing the requirement for two parking spaces per apartment. Letting homeowners build a second small house in the garden.
Individually, each change adds a few hundred homes. Together, they add up to more than most national programmes.
“Nobody campaigns on parking minimums. But parking minimums decide what gets built,” said one mayor.
The national response
Some national politicians have welcomed the network. Others see it as a challenge to their authority, and at least one government has proposed legislation to limit how far cities can go without national approval.
Daniel Szabo
Political editor
Daniel covers parliaments, coalitions and the policies that come out of them.
