How should housing be treated in the HICP?

The ECB has approved a plan to include a measure of the cost of owner-occupied housing in the HICP. This paper reviews the various methodologies that are used to incorporate this element into consumer price indices. It recommends the use of a rental equivalence approach rather than the net acquisitions approach currently used in Eurostat’s experimental price index of owner-occupied housing. This paper was provided by the Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies at the request of the committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) ahead of the Monetary Dialogue with the ECB President on 15 November 2021.