The petition demands a right to reuse for existing buildings based on three key pillars: (I) tax reductions for renovation works and reused materials, (II) fair rules to assess both potentials and risks of existing buildings, and (III) new values for the embedded CO2 in existing structures.
Here is the organization’s website: https://www.houseeurope.eu/
The only thing I don’t support with this petition is the VAT exemptions for building renovations as companies are unlikely to pass these reductions on to consumer prices. Many investigations have shown that the prices can even be higher in the long-term as companies increase prices once the VAT exemption is over, passing the increase on to consumers.
The intentions go in the right direction, though, as avoiding the use of new materials in buildings can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
So this is not about ‘landlords vs renters’, but an environmental issue that is absolutely necessary.
The European Environmental Agency published a briefing a couple of years ago for those who want to dig deeper into that.