In recent years, many European Union (EU) countries have seen house prices rising more strongly than inflation, with rent levels also increasing significantly. Consequently, growing attention is given to the issue of housing affordability in the...

The Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) currently only includes rentals for housing (paid by tenants) and auxiliary housing expenditures (paid by both tenants and owners). The inclusion of an item for owner-occupied housing (OOH) would be desirable for both representativeness and cross-co...

The Living Spaces visit to Vienna provided a comprehensive view of the city's approach to urban development, with a particular focus on gender-inclusive design, social housing, and sustainable practices. Over two days, a delegation of represe...

House prices have been at the centre of the public debate recently. After years of sustained increases they accelerated further during the pandemic. The global financial crisis highlighted the impact that housin...

Residential segregation constitutes both a tangible expression of antigypsyism and discrimination and a barrier to the successful integration of Roma. The European Parliament, in its ‘Resolution of 5 October 2022 on the Situation

This Economic Brief analyses the main drivers of housing prices in recent years and examines policy options to improve housing affordability. A decade of under-investment following a property crash in 2008 led to a decrease in the

This study describes how the housing markets in Lisbon and Porto have developed over the past decade in terms of property investment and housing affordability. Like many cities in Europe, Portugal’s two biggest cities have witnessed significa...

This report resumes the main findings from Citown, an exploratory research activity on the financialisation of housing in EU cities. The study follows indications that over the past years investors have been increasingly active o...

This paper presents new evidence on the impact of the preferential treatment of owner-occupied housing in Europe. We find that tax benefits to homeowners reduce the user cost of housing capital by almost 40...

The state of development of rental markets as a genuine alternative to home-ownership stands out as a particularly relevant institutional factor shaping the outcome of the housing market and playing a balancing role and alleviating house price pressures. This is especially the case when it prove...