This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: Nearly half of people living in Europe on an average income can only afford to buy the equivalent of a one-bedroom apartment or studio apartment, while 39% of Europeans cannot afford to rent a property this size. That's according to a new study published today in the Journal of Maps.
The data highlights the emerging crisis over affordable housing, with densely populated areas such as towns and cities worst affected. The authors from TU Wien (Vienna), Austria, used property and financial data from more than 30 European countries to map "hotspots" where some homes are beyond the means of average earners. Areas around Paris, Berlin and Madrid are among the urban locations most affected by the housing affordability crisis.
The results show that around two in five (44%) of Europe's urban population lives in a city where less than 50 square meters (538 square feet, around the size of a small one-bedroom apartment or a studio apartment) are affordable on an average income. Another key finding is that more than 70% of the European population lives in regions where a 30-year mortgage only buys up to 75 square meters (807 square feet), again based on an average income. The maps also reveal that tourist areas are affected, with second-home owners and short-term renters pricing local people out of the market.
"Our study reveals pronounced hotspots of unaffordability," says lead author Franziska Sielker, a professor of urban and regional research at the Institute of Spatial Planning at TU Wien. "It points to a substantial housing affordability crisis in the making, one that already disproportionately affects newcomers to the market as well as people who change their location frequently for personal or professional reasons. This is the case in capital regions, major urban centers, coastal zones and tourism-intensive alpine areas, alongside large rural supply gaps in rental markets." The maps highlight an emerging affordability crisis, particularly when accounting for higher population density in the least affordable regions.
Affordable housing is an issue affecting many countries worldwide. In Europe, evidence suggests that house prices have risen faster than incomes for more than a decade. For this study, the authors set out to establish how many square meters can be affordable on an average regional income.
The authors based their research on 22 million property listings gathered by the ESPON HOUSE4ALL project across 30 countries. They calculated the affordable floor area based on average regional incomes. The data was then used to create maps showing the geography of housing affordability at a municipal level.
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