"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