Resource context
This resource is an opinion article published by The Guardian and written by Kirsty Major (deputy Opinion editor). It frames Europe’s housing affordability crisis as a continent-wide trend that is reshaping living conditions and widening social and political tensions.
Scale of the affordability squeeze
The article highlights EU-level data cited from the European Parliament showing that, in absolute terms, average house prices across the EU rose by just under 50% between 2015 and 2023. Over a longer period, rents increased by 18% between 2010 and 2022. The piece uses these figures to underline that the pressure on households is not limited to individual hotspots but is present across multiple national housing systems.
From local experiences to a European pattern
Major describes commissioning a series, “The housing crisis in Europe”, asking housing experts to explain conditions in some of Europe’s most expensive cities and to surface responses being attempted. The article stresses that because buying or renting is experienced personally—where people hope to build stability, family life and community—it can be easy to assume the problem is local, even when the drivers and outcomes are increasingly shared across Europe. 🇵🇹 Lisbon: post-crisis policy shifts and displacement One contribution in the series, by Agustín Cocola-Gant, is summarized as linking changes after the 2008 financial crisis to increased demand from wealthy foreign buyers, including for second homes and short-term rentals. The outcome described is local residents being priced out, with some Portuguese families renting individual rooms rather than whole flats, indicating a deterioration in housing security and space standards. 🇳🇱 Amsterdam: dual housing markets and generational divides In Amsterdam, the article contrasts the situation of older, long-term residents—who are described as living in secure and affordable social housing—with younger people and more recent arrivals, often on lower incomes, who are left to the private rental sector. That private sector is portrayed as both costly and insecure, with the overall picture shaped by a longer-term reduction in social housing stock alongside an expansion of private stock. 🇭🇺 Budapest: privatisation and asset-based housing outcomes In Budapest, Csaba Jelinek’s account is summarized as tracing today’s affordability challenges to the post–cold war sell-off of social housing and the political prioritisation of private ownership. The article describes how this has translated into older households investing in property, with price and rent increases making access more difficult for younger generations. 🇦🇹 Vienna: long-term social housing as a stabiliser As a counterpoint, the article presents Vienna—via Justin Kadi’s contribution—as a city without the same affordability crisis, attributing this to a stable social-housing stock maintained since the 1920s and open to tenants across income levels. While newcomers may still rent privately, the scale of social housing is described as dampening rent levels across the market.
Housing as an investment driver of inequality
Major argues that, over more than 40 years, housing policy has tended to favour investors over residents. The imbalance is described as most visible where large institutional investors (including private equity, hedge funds, insurance and pension funds) are active, treating homes as financial assets. The article links this “assetisation” to transfers of wealth from those without property to those who own it, positioning property dynamics as a major engine of inequality.
Political consequences and EU-level responses
The article connects rising inequality to resentment and notes that far-right politicians have capitalised on these pressures. It cites Nicolas Schmit, the European commissioner for jobs and social rights, warning that housing divisions may pose risks to European democracies. While housing policy is primarily national, the EU is described as able to set frameworks and support access to finance; in 2024, EU member-state housing ministers signed a declaration calling for a “new deal” on affordable and social housing.