It is now so expensive to live in Europe’s big cities that many countries are already talking about a housing crisis.
The crisis hits young people particularly hard, for whom it is increasingly difficult to find a rental apartment, not to mention owning an apartment.
Use the machine below to find out which major cities in Europe you could afford to rent. First, choose how much money you have available for housing each month.
The machine shows a list of cities where your money is enough to rent an average two-room apartment in a reputable residential area. You will also see a list of the cities where living is too expensive for you.
There are big differences in the prices of rental apartments between different countries, but they have one thing in common: in almost all countries housing prices have risen significantly in recent years.
In this article, we go through more detailed reasons for the huge change in costs in different cities, and what follows from it.
London: Even a good salary is not necessarily enough
– The housing crisis is now hitting young people with all its force. The challenges they face in the housing market are much greater than previous generations at the same age.
This is what the assistant professor interviewed by , familiar with the real estate market, says Rodrigo Martinez from University College London.
According to him, in London, for example, we are already at the point where even a better-paid job cannot necessarily survive the high housing costs.
The median price of a rental unit alone in the greater London area is almost 1,500 euros this year, he says The Financial Times.
In London, a large part of the rental apartments are investment apartments of private landlords, and the landlords pay increased interest rates on their tenants.
When owner-occupancy is out of reach for more and more people due to the rise in interest rates, the rental housing market in European cities has overheated. According to FT, for example, rent prices in London, Paris and Berlin are already at record highs.
Prices have also risen in the longer term, but the major crises behind the spike in recent years are the corona pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, as well as the inflation and rising interest rates that followed them.
This graphic shows how much the prices of rental apartments have risen in different EU countries compared to 2015. Choose from the drop-down menu or the arrows which country you want to compare the price development of Finnish rents.
Ireland, Portugal and Poland: “boomerang youth” return to their parents
Many young people across Europe now have to postpone moving away from their childhood home for several years. Those who once moved in on their own and then returned to their parents are already invited “boomerang youth”.
Living with parents has increased especially in southern Europe, but according to the FT, the corona pandemic also caused a boomerang effect in Ireland, Portugal and Poland.
At the same time, the number of twenty-somethings living with their parents in Finland has even decreased slightly, it turns out Eurostat statistics. According to Martinez, in the Nordic countries it is still relatively easy for young people to get into the rental market.
According to the researcher, however, the postponement of moving to their own homes has far-reaching consequences for millions of young Europeans.
When living on your own and getting to work is delayed, the multiplier effects increase.
Developing a career, buying an apartment, finding a relationship and having children can be postponed for years or not happen at all.
The uncertain situation also leads to more and more mental health problems.
– The image of owning an apartment as a goal and a dream, and even as an expectation of society, piles up enormous pressure on young people. Many people think that if they don’t own an apartment by the time they reach their forties, they have failed in life. Such pressures do not make the situation easier, says Martinez.
Estonia: Students and refugees were left behind by the IT boom
In Estonia, the prices of rental apartments have more than tripled in just over a decade. The reason is foreign IT workers, who have been lured to the country to live in a flea market, he says The Financial Times.
Many other people looking for a rental apartment are left at their feet, including students moving to Tallinn and Tartu from smaller towns. The same goes for refugees from the war in Ukraine, whose number in Estonia is the highest in Europe relative to the population.
Top foreign professionals have pushed young people away from the housing market to, for example, the capital cities of Ireland and Portugal.
As the test at the beginning of the story shows, a Finn would be able to live in many European capitals much more cheaply than the inner city of Helsinki. However, for local young people, the equation between income and rent expenses is downright impossible in many countries.
This graphic shows how much of the households living in rent are overburdened by the cost of living in different countries. Overload is considered if more than 40 percent of disposable income is spent on living expenses.
Italy: Youth income has nothing to do with Milan
In Italy, people under the age of 35 earn an average of 10,000 euros per year. It doesn’t go far in, for example, Milan, where just a bed in a shared apartment can cost up to 600 euros per month, says the chairman of the country’s national youth council Maria Cristina Rosaria Pisani news site For Euractiv.
In the end, society as a whole ends up paying the bill for the multiplier effects of the lost generation.
– The situation affects the demand for housing, the birth rate and economic growth. It is no longer only about individuals, but about how this affects the entire national economy. Because of this, governments are already under pressure to start intervening in the matter, says Martinez.
According to the researcher, the solution to the acute situation is to offer young people the opportunity to access affordable rental housing.
One way would be short-term support for young people in rent costs. In this way, they would be able to move in and start their working career in a place with good employment opportunities.
– This kind of short-term support can change the entire direction of a young person’s life long into the future. When you think about the extent of its effects, the support would pay for itself.
Portugal: The rent ceiling only made matters worse
In the first half of this year, the increase in rent prices in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, was the highest in the entire EU, according to FT.
This was at least partly due to the country’s government preparing restrictions on rent price increases. Before the new regulation, landlords raised prices while they still had time.
The case of Lisbon is one possible undesired consequence when the rise in prices starts to be curbed by rent regulation.
Rent ceilings can also weaken the supply and quality of housing. Still, if successful, according to researcher Martinez, they are an effective and cheap way for the state to influence the housing market in favor of young people.
He believes that more and more rent ceilings will be coming to Europe in the next few years, at least at the city level.
Nevertheless, Martinez sees that the prices of rental apartments in Europe’s big cities will rise even further. The situation will not be alleviated in the near future, he estimates.
If you have lived for many years in expensive rental apartments, where a large part of your income sinks, you can’t to save for an owner-occupied home. More and more people are living longer and longer on rent, which increases the demand and price of rental apartments even more.
Even if savings were still accumulated and even though the prices of owner-occupied apartments have recently fallen slightly in many countries, high interest rates make it impossible for many young people to take out a mortgage.
– The job market for young people is becoming more unstable, but owning an apartment requires stability and long-term planning. Young people have to suffer from this situation, says Martinez.
You can discuss the topic until Sunday 24 September. until 11 p.m.