The housing crisis in Europe: key facts and EU action (infographics)
Rising housing prices and rents are a big concern for many Europeans. Find out key facts and what the EU is doing about the issue.
In the last decade, housing prices have risen significantly, making it harder for people to find affordable places to live. Young Europeans are particularly affected, leaving their parents' home later.
In response, the European Commission has appointed its first-ever Commissioner for Energy and Housing and the European Parliament has established a special committee on the housing crisis to develop solutions for decent, sustainable and affordable housing across Europe.
How affordable is housing in Europe: key statistics
One way to measure whether housing costs are too high is to look at the housing price-to-income-ratio. If housing costs are above 40% of disposable income, it is a sign that households face issues with housing.
In 2024, housing costs in the EU exceeded 40% of the disposable income for 9.8% of households in EU cities and 6.3% of households in rural areas.
Over a quarter of Greeks (29%) living in cities had housing costs of over 40% of income, while only 2.3% of Cypriots in cities faced the same issue.
Around 35.5% of the household income in Greece was used to cover housing costs in 2024, the highest share in the EU.
The increase in house prices and rents in the EU
Between 2015 and 2024, house prices in the EU rose on average by 53%. The biggest increases were observed in Hungary (+209.5%), Lithuania (+135%) and Portugal (+124.4%).
Renting in the EU also became costlier. Between 2010 and the first quarter of 2025, rent prices rose by 27.8 % on average. Rents went up in all EU countries except Greece (-11%). The biggest rises were in Estonia (+220%), Lithuania (+184%), Hungary (+124%) and Ireland (+115%).
This is partially due to an increase in short-term rentals, which took houses and flats out of the market.
The housing shortage’s role in the crisis
The European Investment Bank points to the limited supply as one of the key drivers for the problem with housing.
The 2008 global financial crisis led to a big decrease in investment in new housing. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in even slower residential construction. Building permits for residential buildings dropped by more than 20% since 2021. With not enough new dwellings to accommodate the demand, prices tend to go up.
Housing conditions in Europe
Many Europeans are concerned about rising prices, the cost of living and the economic situation. According to the Eurobarometer survey from July 2024, those were the main reasons that drove people to vote in the European elections.
How does the majority of Europeans live?
- Over two-thirds of Europeans live in households owning their home
- There are on average 1.7 rooms per person
- There are on average 2.3 people per household
- 17% of Europeans live in overcrowded homes that do not offer adequate space (at least one room per adult couple, single adult person, pairs of brothers or sisters aged 12 to 17, single children over 12 or pairs of children under 12)
- 33% of Europeans live in homes that have more space than what is considered adequate
- Source: Eurostat (2024)
How the housing market affects young people
Housing costs may be one of the factors that young people consider when thinking of moving out of the family home and starting life on their own. Other factors, pointed out by Eurostat, are being in a relationship, the situation on the job market, cultural habits and the cost of living in general. In the EU, the average age of leaving the parental household was 26.2 years in 2024. This varies significantly between EU countries: from 21.4 years in Finland to 31.3 years in Croatia.
What is the EU doing about the housing crisis?
In 2021, Parliament adopted a resolution calling on EU countries to recognise adequate housing as a fundamental human right that is enforceable through legislation. Everyone should get equal access to decent, "healthy" housing, with connection to high-quality drinking water, adequate sanitation, sewage and reliable energy, MEPs said.
In July 2024, Parliament elected Ursula von der Leyen for a second term as President of the European Commission. In a statement before the vote, von der Leyen announced housing as one of the EU’s priorities in the new term.
Parliament set up a special committee that should analyse the root causes and propose solutions on how the EU should tackle the issues with housing. The committee's initial one-year mandate was extended by six months until 30 July 2026.
In March 2025, the European Commission and the European Investment Bank announced plans for investments of around €10 billion over the following two years in affordable and sustainable housing.
Dan Jørgensen, the first-ever EU commissioner for housing, launched a large public consultation in 2025 in view of developing an affordable housing plan for the EU.
In September 2025, Parliament approved new rules for EU cohesion and social funding, allowing for such resources to be allocated to affordable and sustainable housing. MEPs also called on EU countries to "at least double" their funding for affordable housing in order to solve EU’s housing crisis which they described as severe.
