Rental prices in Europe are increasingly high. According to a Eurostat study, the average price for an unfurnished one-bedroom flat in the cities of London, Geneva and Dublin exceeds €2000. Eastern European cities generally have the lowest rental costs, such as in Skopje (€250), Pristina (€310) or Ankara (€410).
Do you think that Europe has already reached a housing crisis? And if so, how do you think we can get out of this situation?
I see one reason for the circular diagram: it's a lot more compact than a single-column bar chart would be. It's also, subjectively, more pretty to look at.
Also it's not like a circle would add information here in any way, more like the opposite - London follows again after Skopje? If this diagram is really from Eurostat and not only the data, that's kind of embarassing..
I recently saw a rent affordability chart, which was much more interesting (and more sanely formatted). Some of the locations listed as cheapest are actually the most expensive when adjusted for median income.
Athens is just 200€ lower than Vienna. Athens has about 35-40% of the average salary that Vienna has. About 85% of the wage vs less than 40%. And Vienna usually includes utility bills...
I think that’s a severe problem for our society and especially the younger generation.
This situation is somewhat a doomed circle, and for now I don’t see it becoming better.
I have already a well paying job, but I don’t see myself paying nearly the half of my net income for a two rooms flat. I always ask myself how do people handle this, who are earning less money, or even have children.
I'm not sure how they made the selection, but considering the inclusion of cities like Geneva, Munich, Reading, Karlsruhe, and Lyon, I doubt they had capital cities only in mind.
It's not just capitals. There are some odd choices in general, Munich is listed, which is the third largest city in Germany, but the second largest which is Hamburg is missing, but for some reason Karlsruhe (22nd largest city) is listed. Similar for France, Lyon (3rd largest) is listed, but not Marseille (2nd largest).
Keep in mind that these numbers are for above-average flats, ie in good locations, of good size (40-60m² or 60-80m², depending on the city) and for well-earning positions. Probably not the top 1%, but still generally well paid jobs. As such the presentation is inaccurate. Those are not "average prices in the city", but "average prices for good flats in good districts, comparable with Brussels".
OBTAINED THROUGH SURVEYS WITH ESTATE AGENCIES, COVERING A SPECIFIC HOUSING SEGMENT
The rent data presented in this booklet are part of a wider work programme, whose objective is to compare the relative cost of living of international civil servants in any place of employment with that of Brussels, the reference city.
Since the aim of the entire exercise is to compare "like with like", the neighbourhoods surveyed may not necessarily be in those areas where expatriates actually live but are comparable with those actually occupied by officials in Brussels.
These neighbourhoods are described as residential areas of good quality, favoured by expatriates and professional people such as international civil servants, university staff, doctors, managers, and similar professionals, who pay their rent by themselves (i.e. not paid by their
employers).
And these are mostly capitals – prices there are usually far above prices in our cities and towns in the same countries. And differences between capital cities and other places may differ in different countries. So it is not very representative for Europe as whole.
Huh, seems kinda strange to include Ankara and not Istanbul.
First off, Ankara is deep into the Asian side of Turkey.
Also, Istanbul is a city I'd MUCH rather live in, that's where the action is!
I think Istanbul is actually in the European continent. Or at least most of it. Cross the bridge and you’re on the Asian continent. Remember EU is not the same as Europe.
If housing is an investment vehicle for growing your money, then the people who can participate in that system will work to produce outcomes that fundamentally go against affordable housing. A society that believes in affordable housing as a right or a goal can't allow housing to be used as a place to park wealth so that it grows akin to a stock.
Whatever prices are, they are higher when a landlord is involved. We must get progressively outlaw multiple pieces of land. Owning more than two homes/flats should cost the owner something every year, not generate wealth - and that second one should be nearly neutral.
Holy shit I was looking at downtown Reykjavik back in 2022 and it was at minimum 900€ (around 140k isk) for just a room to sleep in, the housing problem in Iceland is completely bonkers
I worked in Lisbon for a while. Salary after tax was 700 EUR and a (very tiny shared) room was provided but I couldn't afford my own place. Now I'm in Prague and although I live very, very small, at least rent is "only" half of after-tax salary.
So more of a crisis in one place than another, but it would've been nice if something more than just a one-bedroom apartment would still be achieveable.