Urban dwelling types

Many European cities have experienced housing price increases disproportionate to changes to income in recent years. This has been attributed to a number of factors, including a higher rate of investment in property, generally favourable financing conditions and the spread of short-term rental platforms in tourist destinations. The result may be more households suffering from housing cost overburden and overcrowding of apartments, indicators for which cities already today fare worse than smaller towns or rural areas. The problem of housing affordability has become even more prevalent during the Covid-19 pandemic, with many people having difficulty paying their rent. Increasing urbanisation will also likely lead to higher shares of people living in apartments, especially in those cities where house prices and rents have already experienced a strong increase in recent years. Already today, the majority of city dwellers live in apartments, with large differences between EU Member States.