Where do Europeans live? From apartments in Spain to houses in Ireland, the EU housing gap

The same goes for Greece, where the ownership rate is 78.2%. “For us, like for many other young couples, it wasn’t a matter of choice, but a simple question of availability”, explains Andreas, 35 years old, resident in Athens. He managed to obtain public assistance to buy the house he wanted he and his wife had rented on the outskirts of town. “The loan approved by the government was not enough to buy a decent apartment, because after the announcement of the program, the prices of older buildings increased and availability decreased,” he adds, specifying that their current home would not be ideal if they wanted start a family.

However, he is grateful for the help he has received because “prices are too high, there are too few houses available and our wages are too low.” However, family circumstances remain a priority for some. As in the case of Mercedes, 58 years old, who decided to invest in a house thinking about the comfort of his family. “We wanted my two children, who are still young, to have enough space to play,” she confesses. Factors such as income level, debt capacity and lifestyle are pointed to by Tada Šarūnas, a Lithuanian doctor of sociology, to explain his country’s homeownership rate, which stands at 88%.

«Looking at large cities, for some time we have witnessed the phenomenon of suburbanisation, in which people prefer to move to the suburbs and buy their own house. But the data from the latest census shows how, at least in Vilnius, there is a slightly different trend”, he adds. “In the centre, land is much more expensive than in the countryside or rural areas, but the space available is probably less than to a house far from urban centers. Ultimately, it is a different measurement of luxury,” explains Šarūnas.

Italy, present and future of rent

The loss of purchasing power of Italian families and the increase in interest rates are changing the relationship with rent. Those who choose to rent almost always declare that they prefer it as the “only possible solution” due to the lack of sufficient financial resources to access the purchase market. Analyzing financial capacity, 34.8% of families expect to have difficulty paying rent (+3% compared to 2022).

The latest 2023 survey on Italian families presented by the consultancy firm Nomisma as part of the 16th Report on Housing Finance 2023 confirms the trend: the number of sales has decreased. «In 2023, the increase in house prices and the increase in interest rates on mortgages have contributed to consolidating the role of renting as a solution, at least theoretically, more sustainable, temporary and with less compromise», comments Francesca Zirnstein, general manager of Scenari Immobiliari. Ultimately, the Italian market is experiencing an increase in mortgage interest rates, an increase in sales prices and an increase in demand in the short term. Giuseppe Crupi, CEO of Abitare Co. clarifies: «The shortage of housing has exerted and continues to exert enormous pressure on rents in large cities».