The meeting had been postponed several times. Despite growing pressure for swift action, it produced no decisions or new policy initiatives, raising questions about the authorities' sense of urgency. Marc Lauer, the new president of the business federation, did not attend and delegated his role. Prime Minister Luc Frieden was present but declined to comment afterwards.
Housing Minister Claude Meisch did not directly answer whether any concrete measures had been agreed. He stressed the value of dialogue instead.
"It is always worthwhile, as was clear this morning, to sit together, exchange perspectives, and review what is already underway. That was the first priority: to provide an overview of the government's entire array of measures, many of which already respond to demands from both unions and employers. We will keep working on these matters," Meisch said. He announced no new initiatives.
Nora Back, president of the Independent Luxembourg Trade Union Confederation (OGBL), expressed frustration at the lack of progress and said little new was learned.
"Today, we were again shown a PowerPoint presentation confirming what the government has already done to tackle the housing crisis. There have been some efforts, but it is nowhere near enough. Our role today was to point out that the root causes of the crisis need to be addressed much more thoroughly. That includes creating more affordable housing in public ownership, cracking down on speculation, and mobilising vacant dwellings," Back said.
Patrick Dury, president of the Luxembourg Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (LCGB), said a lack of trust persists in the VEFA system, under which homes are sold off-plan before they are built. He added that young people in particular increasingly cannot afford housing.
"As a country, we will be judged by whether we find answers to these questions. That answer did not come today, but it was worthwhile to exchange views and hear the different perspectives from the social partners," Dury said.
Employer representatives again argued for investment incentives for developers and investors, the kind the Democratic Party (DP) resisted ahead of the 2023 general election.
In RTL's face-to-face debate before that election, DP lead candidate Xavier Bettel said: "In housing construction, it seems that Mr Frieden wants to return to old practices: accelerated depreciation and so on. Such measures do not help tenants or those wishing to buy, but rather increase developers' profit margins. In our view, what is needed is a genuine housing construction offensive."
The "Booster for Housing" package unveiled before the summer holidays is nonetheless largely based on such policies. They originate from the Finance Ministry, led by Gilles Roth of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV). In recent budgets, Roth gave DP Housing Minister Meisch additional funding for affordable housing and the acquisition of VEFA projects.
Dury criticised the government for holding what he called theoretical discussions about rent caps and a rental index, while the public sector owns too few rental homes to influence the market and moderate rents.
Meisch said: "We know that current rent regulations are no longer functioning properly, and we are obliged to find a new approach. A few weeks ago, the government made a fundamental commitment: for new homes, we aim to keep using a percentage of the invested capital as a benchmark, since we know that figure. For older properties, however, we want to use a rental index as a reference, so that rents will not rise without limit, but only at a reasonable rate."
A draft law to set up a national tenancy conciliation commission, which Meisch promised before the summer to help mediate disputes between landlords and tenants, is now expected in the coming weeks.
Meisch has also arranged to meet young activists protesting the housing situation, after the All Saints' Day school holiday.
