Data Finds European Countries Are Also Facing Housing Supply Challenges

By: Steven Molinari, Policy Analyst

October 21, 2025 — On October 15, Housing Europe, the European Federation of Public, Cooperative, and Social Housing, released a report titled “The State of Housing in Europe 2025.” The report highlights housing challenges, as well as solutions towards tackling the housing crisis across most of Europe.

Housing Supply and Quality Challenges Across Europe

Like the U.S., the report finds that Europe faces a persistent and growing gap between housing needs and supply. According to the report, this is attributed to changes in population growth combined with rising costs, limited financing, and sluggish construction pipelines. Many public, cooperative, and social housing providers across Europe face an overwhelming backlog of housing demand. Some countries also face issues with the quality of housing not meeting adequate standards.

Data provided in the report finds:

• France requires 518,000 homes annually (198,000 social housing) until 2040 to meet demand. Over 2.8 million applicants  are currently on waiting lists;
• Germany requires at least 400,000 homes annually (140,000 social housing);
• The Netherlands estimates they need over a million homes needed by 2031;
• Sweden estimates they need 500,000 new homes by 2033;
• Czechia has approximately 161,000 homes listed as inadequate housing with 45,000 homes reported as roofless;
• Portugal has approximately 130,000 families in inadequate housing; and
• Hundreds of thousands on waiting lists in Italy, Portugal, and Germany’s urban areas.

Public, Cooperative, and Social Housing Represent a Significant Proportion of Homes Addressing Housing Supply in Many Parts of Europe

• In the Netherlands, housing associations delivered one third of all new housing completions in 2024;
• In France, social housing accounted for almost 30 percent of all housing starts in 2024;
• In Austria, limited-profit housing companies build one in four new homes;
• In Sweden, public and cooperative housing built one in four new homes;
• In Finland, municipal housing companies produce 20 percent of new supply; and
• In Slovenia, the public housing budget multiplied by four times the amount in 2025.

Positive Reforms Made

• In Denmark, more flexible rules were made for non-profit housing;
• In Ireland, they recently created a regulatory authority and Housing for All strategy;
• In Luxembourg, new affordable housing laws and entities have been established;
• In Portugal, they created a new strategic and institutional housing framework;
• In Slovenia, they established long-term funding and legislation for 20,000 public rental homes; and
• Germany expanded their housing benefit system.

The report regarding trends in Europe, as well as, more country specific reports can be found here.