The EU has unveiled its first-ever housing strategy, but is it enough to see off the far right and rescue a generation shut out of affordable living?
Donald Trump may rage about Europe being a multicultural hell facing “civilisational” collapse. As a proud real estate guy, however, he must be impressed by one feature of European life: the house prices, and the extent to which even progressive governments have abandoned housing to the markets.
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.
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