# "Affordable Housing". The Future of Cities (European Commission, Apr 2019)

* **Chapter "Affordable Housing" in The Future of Cities: Opportunities, Challenges and the Way Forward**
* Published by the European Commission in April 2019
* <https://urban.jrc.ec.europa.eu/thefutureofcities/affordable-housing#the-chapter>
* **Key messages**:
  * Some of Europe’s most in-demand cities have seen sharp increases in housing prices over the past years. **This threatens housing affordability as prices are recovering faster than earnings, and the availability of housing is low**.
  * **Short-term rental platforms**, which are becoming increasingly popular, **may cause property prices to spiral and negatively affect local liveability**.
  * The recent scale-up of **foreign and corporate investments in residential urban property has transformed patterns of ownership, raising concerns on the social fabric of a city and on who can be held accountable for citizen’s rights** to adequate and affordable housing.
* **Keywords**: affordability, short-term rental platforms, Airbnb, financialisation, investment funds, investment banks, gentrification