44% of Europeans with average incomes can only buy a one-bedroom apartment

BarcelonaThe housing crisis affects all of Europe, especially in large cities and the most densely populated areas. According to a study by the Technical University of Vienna (TU Wien), 44% of Europeans with an average income level can only afford to buy a property of less than 50 square meters, that is, the equivalent of a one-bedroom apartment or a studio.

Academics have analyzed 22 million property listings and financial data from more than 30 European countries, with the aim of determining the surface area that a person with an average income can afford in each territory.

In this line, the study also concludes that 7 out of 10 Europeans live in regions where a 30-year mortgage with an average income provides access to buy a property of, at most, 75 square meters. The issue worsens in urban centers, despite the fact that average salaries are higher there. The combination of factors causes the crisis to subsequently expand towards neighboring regions. "There are clearly visible spillover effects," warns the lead researcher, Franziska Sielker, as reported by Europa Press.

Likewise, the housing crisis is also worsening in coastal areas and those with higher tourist activity. Sielker assures that the study "reveals very marked pockets of inaccessibility," and highlights the areas near Paris, Berlin, and Madrid. By country, it identifies Portugal, Poland, and the Netherlands as highly inaccessible.

Union of mayors

The housing crisis landed in Brussels in May last year, led by fifteen European mayors, headed by Barcelona's Jaume Collboni, together with his counterparts from Paris and Rome. The mayors then presented a plan of 300 billion euros per year to address the lack of access to housing, which sets the goal of building one new home and renovating five for every 100 inhabitants, over the next five years.

The European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, assured this April during a visit to Barcelona that seasonal rentals have become a "big problem" in many European cities, not just in the large capitals. He also considered that something must be done about the volume of tourist apartments which, in his view, have contributed to the housing crisis.