Build. More. Houses.
Everywhere you go in Europe and the UK, people complain about the lack of affordable housing.
Across Europe and the UK, a common complaint echoes - a dearth of affordable housing. Particularly in bustling cities like London, Paris, and Madrid, the dwindling availability of homes compared to demand has made it difficult for younger generations to enter the property market without financial assistance from their parents. This issue has become a pressing political matter, prompting the European Commission to conduct a comprehensive study on housing investment needs across the EU.
The findings are stark, with the largest demands for new housing investments concentrated in Madrid and Barcelona, Luxembourg, Vienna, Gothenburg, and Stockholm. Notably, Ireland emerges as a region requiring a substantial increase in housing stock, with over 2% of existing homes in need of construction to address the strain. This raises an uncomfortable question - could the UK face similar investment needs?
The stark reality is that the UK, now outside the EU, was excluded from the study, yet Ireland's data suggests a potential parallel. Currently, the UK is allocated funding for 700,000 additional homes and the government's ambitious target of 1.5 million more homes. Given our existing 30 million homes, this translates to an investment of 2.3% to 5% of our current housing stock.
Consequently, the UK would likely appear in the same shade as Ireland on the map, highlighting the urgent need for more housing.
Written by urgent.news from Klement on Investing's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
