Why Young Europeans Are Not Buying Houses
April 30, 2026 · Frisian News
Across Europe, people under 35 own homes at half the rate their parents did, blocked by prices that have doubled in a decade while wages stagnated. Banks and governments blame the young; the young blame a rigged system.
A 28-year-old accountant in Amsterdam spent five years saving for a down payment on a modest three-room flat. She had 60,000 euros in the bank. The asking price for the apartment was 520,000 euros, up from 380,000 euros when she started saving. She did not buy the house. She rents still, and has moved three times in two years because her landlord keeps raising the rent.
This story repeats across Europe. In Spain, the average house costs nine years of gross household income, double the European average of fifteen years from 2000. Young Italians save for decades and still cannot afford entry-level property. German and Swedish banks tightened lending rules after 2008, then kept them tight even as interest rates fell. Developers built luxury apartments for foreign investors and corporate funds, not homes for locals. Governments watched and did nothing.
The official line blames young people for spending on coffee and phones. That line ignores the facts. A young couple earning median wages in the UK would need to save for 15 years without spending a single pound on anything but food and basics to afford a 20 percent down payment on a median-priced home. That math does not work. Banks know it. They have simply stopped lending to first-time buyers who lack family wealth or dual high incomes. Mortgage approval rates for under-35 borrowers dropped 34 percent in the past five years across the EU.
Supervisors and central banks call this prudent. They forced banks to hold more capital and demand bigger down payments after 2008. The rules protected banks from risk. They did nothing to protect young people from being locked out of asset ownership for life. An entire generation will build wealth through rents paid to landlords, not through equity in homes. That wealth flows upward, to older property owners and to institutional investors who buy up rental stock.
Some governments talk about first-time buyer schemes and affordable housing quotas. Most schemes fail because they are too narrow or under-funded. London's affordable housing remains unaffordable to most of the people it was meant for. Dublin's social housing program has a waiting list of 50,000 families. The gap between talk and action grows wider each year. Young Europeans are not avoiding home ownership because they are lazy. They are locked out by a system that treats housing as an investment vehicle for the rich, not as shelter for the young.
In 28-jierrige rekkenmaster yn Amsterdam bestege fiif jier oan sparen foar in earste betelling op in bescheiden triekameraparteminteafbou. Se hie 60.000 euro op 'e bank. De fraachprys foar it apartemint bedroech 520.000 euro, yn tsjinstelling ta 380.000 euro doe't se begon te sparen. Se kocht it hûs net. Se huret noch altyd, en is yn twa jier trije kear ferhuze omdat har húshjipper de hure altyd ferhegge.
Dit ferhaal herhellet him yn heal Europa. Yn Spanje kostet it gemiddelde hûs njoggen jier bruto húshâltsinkommen, twa kear it Europeeske gemiddelde fan fjirtjin jier fan 2000. Jonge Italianen sparre desennialang en kinne noch altyd gjin yngongshuzen betelle. Dútske en Sweedske banken fersterkten nei 2008 de lienregeljen, en hâlden se tsjocht, al doe't de ryntferken daaleien. Ûntwikkelaars bowen luxe apartemints foar buitenlânske beleggers en bedriufsfoannsen, gjin huzen foar lokale bewenners. Regearringen sjoggen ta en diene neat.
De offisjele line jildt jonge minsken de skuld foar útjeften oan kofje en telofoantsjes. Dy line negeart de feiten. In jonge pear dat it mediaaninkommen fertsjinnet yn it Feriene Keninkryk, soe fjirtjin jier moatte sparre sûnder in inkele pûn út te jaan oan wat oars as iten en basisbehoften om in 20 persint earste betelling op in mediane woning te betellen. Dy wiskundige jildt net. Banken witte it. Se hawwe gewoan stopte mei it jaan fan hypotheken oan earste-kear keapers sûnder famyljeryksdom of twintal heech inkommen. Hypoteekgoedkearring foar ûnder-35 lieners die 34 persint yn 'e ôfrûne fiif jier yn 'e EU.
Tosichtelders en sintrale banken neame dit foarsichtich. Se dwongen banken om mear haadstêd oan te hâlden en gruttere earste betelling te eisken nei 2008. De regels beskerme banken tsjin risiko's. Se diene neat om jonge minsken tsjin te beskerme tsjin it op libben lang bûten it litten fan fermogensforbining. In heale generaasje bouwe fermogen troch hueren betelle oan hûshjipper, net troch eigen fermogen yn huzen. Dat fermogens streamt omheech, nei âldere hûseinterjef en nei ynstitusjoneele beleggers dy't huerhâlding opkeapje.
Summe regearringen prate oer earste-kioper "hjipskema's en betellbere wonstskwotas. De measte skema's mislukje omdat se te snei of ûnderfinansiert binne. Betelbere woning yn Londen bliuwt unbetelbere foar de measte minsken wêr't it foar bedoeld wie. It sosjale woneningenprogramma fan Dublin het in wachtslist fan 50.000 húshâlden. De klift tusken praten en hândeling wurdt elk jier grutter. Jonge Europeanen fermeitsje huzhâlding net omdat se lui binne. Se wurde bûten hâlden troch in systeem dat woning behannelt as bellegingsark foar de riken, net as ûnderkoamen foar de jeugd.
Published April 30, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân