From buying a single bedroom in a shared flat to pooling mortgages with friends, young Europeans are embracing once-unthinkable housing arrangements — a stark sign of how deep Europe’s housing crisis has become.
Across the European Union, home prices have surged far ahead of wages. Over the past decade, property values rose about 10% faster than incomes, according to research by the European Commission. The burden has fallen hardest on younger generations, many of whom now see traditional homeownership as out of reach.
With EU-level affordability plans announced late last year still slow to materialise, private companies are stepping into the gap — offering creative, and sometimes controversial, alternatives.
In Spain, where housing shortages in cities like Madrid and Barcelona have been intensified by short-term holiday rentals, startup Habitacion.com is selling individual bedrooms instead of entire apartments. Prices can reach €80,000 — roughly a third of what a one-bedroom flat costs in similar neighbourhoods.
The company says it sold around 200 rooms last year and now has tens of thousands on its waiting list across seven Spanish cities. Founder Oriol Valls argues the model reflects changing lifestyles as people marry later, have fewer children, or prioritise flexibility over space. Buyers are matched using compatibility questionnaires and must rely on personal loans rather than standard mortgages.
Not everyone is convinced. Some potential buyers say the model falls apart if they want to live with a partner or resell independently.
Further north, Britain is experimenting with its own workarounds. London-based developer Fairview runs a “Buddy Up” scheme that helps friends buy homes together, contributing toward legal costs and connecting them with brokers and solicitors. At the same time, banks in the UK, France, Germany and Italy are cautiously reviving low- or zero-deposit mortgages — products largely abandoned after the 2008 financial crisis.
For renters like Natalie and Martin Walker from northern England, such options can be life-changing. Faced with eviction shortly after their baby was born, they turned to a zero-deposit mortgage last year. “The stability it brings — that’s everything,” Natalie said.
Others are turning to property investment rather than ownership. In Spain, engineer Carlos Sempere bought a rental property through investment platform PropHero to help offset the cost of renting in central Madrid, where prices can approach €1 million. PropHero also allows smaller investors to buy stakes in rental buildings in Spain and Ireland for as little as €20,000.
Property experts say these unconventional solutions reveal more about the problem than the fix. As housing costs soar, first-time buyers are increasingly willing to accept legal complexity, higher interest rates and shared ownership — simply to secure a place in the market.
“All of this shows one thing,” said a senior real estate consultant. “People are getting poorer, and housing is pushing them to the edge.”
