A data-driven look at housing pressure across Europe
Housing affordability has become a growing concern across Europe, but
the scale and causes of the pressure vary considerably between places.
On Wednesday, 9 September, the European Commission proposed
the Affordable Housing Act
[https://housing.ec.europa.eu/european-affordable-housing-plan/affordable-housing-act_en],
which aims to help make housing more available and affordable across
the EU. The proposal recognises that effective action requires a
clearer understanding of where housing pressure is most severe.

One element of the proposal is a new data-driven method
[https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC147616]
that compares average house prices with average annual household
incomes. An area may be identified as being under housing stress when
its price-to-income level is high, or when it is moderate but has
increased over the previous ten years. Authorities can also consider
local pressures such as population changes, housing supply or
short-term rentals.

As this methodology shows, open data plays an important role in
understanding and addressing housing pressure. Reliable and comparable
data can help public authorities identify differences between
territories, monitor changes and tailor responses to local needs.
The European Data Portal [https://data.europa.eu/en] offers access
to housing-related datasets
[https://data.europa.eu/data/datasets?locale=en&page=1&searchScope=dataset&query=%22housing%22]
supporting research on affordability, housing costs and living
conditions.

Curious about how your country compares? Explore our housing data
story
[https://data.europa.eu/en/publications/datastories/exploring-housing-trends-open-data]
or browse housing-related datasets
[https://data.europa.eu/data/combined?locale=en&query=housing]. To
learn how authorities can identify areas under housing stress, read
the Joint Research Centre article ‘A novel data-driven approach to
identify EU areas under housing stress’
[https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/jrc-news-and-updates/novel-data-driven-approach-identify-eu-areas-under-housing-stress-2026-09-09_en].

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Publication Date/Time
2026-10-14T09:00:00+00:00
A new EU method helps local authorities identify areas where house
prices are outpacing incomes