Housing costs strain 34 million EU residents

Eurostat data cited by Euronews Business in an Oct. 31 news report showed more than 34 million people in the EU lived in households spending over 40% of disposable income on housing in 2025.

The EU's housing cost overburden rate, Eurostat's term for that threshold, stood at 7.7% in 2025, while Greece reached 26.4%, more than three times the bloc average.

The figures underline how housing has become a policy and affordability constraint across Europe. EU house prices rose 69% on average between 2015 and the second quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat data cited by Euronews, while rents and energy bills also increased.

“Europe faces a crisis driven by rising house prices and increasing housing costs,” the European Council said, according to Euronews.

Eurostat defines housing costs as monthly spending tied to a home, including rent or mortgage interest, utilities, insurance, maintenance, repairs and taxes. Disposable income means household income after taxes and social contributions, including social benefits such as pensions.

Greece had the highest rate among countries with available data, covering the EU's 27 members, two EFTA countries and five EU candidate countries. Denmark followed among EU countries at 14.7%, while Germany stood at 11.2% and Sweden at 10.8%.

Outside the EU, Switzerland recorded a 15.3% overburden rate and Norway 13.5%, Euronews reported. Turkey was at 10%, Montenegro at 8.7% and Serbia at 7.9%, all above the EU average.

Dr Hannah Widmer from ETH Zürich told Euronews Business: “The main drivers of housing cost overburden are rising costs for housing (be it rents or house prices, which are spiking in many cities) in relation to the modest growth in incomes, especially for the lower quantiles of the income distribution.”

The country ranking shifts when measured by the number of people affected. Germany had 9.4 million people living in overburdened households, followed by Turkey with 8.6 million, France with 4.4 million, Spain with 3.5 million and Italy with 2.9 million, according to Euronews.

Cross-country comparisons require caution because income levels, welfare systems and housing tenure vary. Rikke Skovgaard Nielsen, senior researcher at Aalborg University, told Euronews that the explanations for Greece, Switzerland and Denmark differ, as do the consequences for households.

Cyprus had the lowest rate at 2.4%. Croatia was at 3.2%, while Slovenia and Slovakia each recorded 3.5%; among the largest EU economies, Spain, France and Italy were below the bloc average, while Germany was above it.

Dr Marietta Haffner from TU Delft told Euronews that housing-cost burdens increase when house prices, rents, energy prices, interest rates and inflation rise faster than incomes. “It is likely that the increasing energy costs will be a main driver in the next year of increasing housing costs,” she said.

Source: news report, Euronews, Oct. 31, 2026