Cutting back on food and borrowing money - a large number of Europeans have no other way to cover their mounting housing costs, according to a new study. The New Housing Trend Report 2024, compiled by the estate agency RE/MAX Europe, found that more than one in 10 Europeans had to cut back on food and basic everyday items in order to pay for their housing over the last year. The consumer survey of thousands of participants found that housing costs have soared on average by 54% in Europe over the last 12 months.
More than one-third of Europeans (37%) said, that while they were coping, and could afford their housing costs, money remained tight. Almost one-fifth (19%) said they were struggling to make ends meet. On average European households spend 38% of their income to cover rent or mortgage payments and utility bills, with the highest percentage measured in Slovenia (43%) and Portugal (42%).
But people living in Switzerland, for instance, reported a lower, 30% burden. To be able to cover the increasing housing costs, 80% of the people in the survey said they had started cutting back on their expenses. Some 41% of the responders decided to save on social activities, while 40% had reduced spending on holidays and luxury items.
Of those responding to the survey, some 16% declared that they had cut back on food bills, with the highest proportion, 26%, in Austria and Finland. A minority of 15% of Europeans reported that they had been forced to resort to some form of borrowing to c.