Why young people are the big losers in Europe's dysfunctional housing system

"Since 2010, average sale prices in the EU have surged by close to 60%. In some countries, such as the Netherlands, house prices have doubled in a decade. Rents, meanwhile, have increased by almost 30% on average in the last 15 years. The rent average masks dramatic spikes experienced in some countries: 208% in Estonia, 177% in Lithuania, 108% in Ireland and 107% in Hungary."

"If property has been a lucrative bet for wealthy investors, the cost of a home is a financial ordeal for millions of people whose incomes have been outpaced. Younger Europeans are bearing the brunt, with many barely able to rent independently or with any security, let alone afford a mortgage, even when they are in work. New research by the EU agency Eurofound (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions) reported extraordinary levels of housing precarity:"

Since 2010 average sale prices in the EU have surged by close to 60%, with some countries, like the Netherlands, doubling in a decade. Rents have risen almost 30% on average over 15 years, with extreme spikes in Estonia (208%), Lithuania (177%), Ireland (108%) and Hungary (107%). Many workers, especially those aged 25–34, face acute precarity: 30% live with their parents in the EU, and young people often spend about one-third of income on housing. Several countries require workers aged 18–34 to devote over 80% of wages to a two-room flat. Experts point to financialisation as a central structural cause, alongside post-pandemic construction cost surges.

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