In Spain, Portugal, France and Italy, autumn has been marked by protests against the high cost of living. The housing crisis will also be at the centre of attention next week, when millions of people are expected to demonstrate for change.
The protests began in earnest in Spain in September, when an 87-year-old pensioner was evicted from the rental apartment where she had lived for 70 years after a property owner sharply increased the rent.
That was the last straw. But we have seen a similar development in many countries, with sharply increased rents and a reduced social housing sector, says Martin Grander.
“Ownership policy”
House prices in the EU increased by an average of 53 percent between 2010 and 2024, according to Eurostat. Rents increased by an average of 25 percent during the same period.
People have less and less left to live on once they have paid for their home, and this has been exacerbated by the energy and inflation crisis, Martin Grander emphasizes. At the same time, housing developers and politicians have pushed for greater home ownership.
Investments in social housing and rental apartments have decreased, and there is a large group that cannot own their homes because they do not have the income, says Martin Grander, who points out that the problems are “glaring” in Sweden as well.
Large international property owners are pushing through aggressive rent increases. On top of that, more and more apartments are being rented out as short-term accommodation for tourists.
It is a huge issue in many European countries, and in traditionally popular tourist destinations such as Venice, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome.
Tougher regulation
Calls for change are now being heard in several places. Germany is pushing hardest for a different housing policy. The left-wing party Die Linke went to the polls on a platform of introducing rent caps, building cheap housing and nationalising 270,000 apartments in Berlin. In the Netherlands, too, the election campaign last year was dominated by the housing shortage.
The discussion is starting to take place, not as dramatically as in Berlin, but there is more discussion about tighter regulation and taming the market in various ways, says Martin Grander.
The EU is trying to limit short-term rentals in a new plan. Also new is the proposal that more people should have the right to subsidised housing, not just the poorest.
There has been talk of lower-middle-income groups, especially key workers who cannot afford housing, such as emergency services workers and teachers.
But the issue is politically sensitive, Martin Grander emphasizes.
It is about how housing is viewed at the intersection between a social right and a market commodity.
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