Home prices in Europe have risen sharply since 2010, up nearly 60% on average, with some countries like the Netherlands seeing prices double. Rents have also soared, with increases over 100% in places such as Estonia, Lithuania, Ireland, and Hungary. Young Europeans face the toughest challenge; 30% of 25- to 34-year-olds still live with their parents across the EU, and in Spain, Portugal, Ireland, and Poland this reaches almost 50%. Many spend nearly one-third of their income on housing, with workers in some countries paying over 80% of their wages for a two-room flat. Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni warns that housing is a threat to the EU as big as Russia, highlighting a 70% rise in city home prices over the last decade. Experts point to "financialisation," where homes are treated as investments instead of basic rights, as a key reason. Governments have reduced their role in social housing since the 1980s, causing ownership to drop. This crisis hinders economies, with employers unable to attract workers to expensive cities. Ireland depends heavily on healthcare workers from outside the EU, many of whom face sky-high rents. Phil Ní Sheaghdha, president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said, "We are now completely dependent on non-EU workers in our [healthcare] professions. What we don’t tell them is that when they get here, they will have no place to live, or if they do, that 70% of their wages, if they are working as a nurse, is going to be spent on rent." Housing pressures also fuel far-right politics by framing migration as a competition for limited homes. In response, the European Commission unveiled its first affordable housing strategy on Tuesday. This plan allows governments more freedom to subsidise housing for the "missing middle" — those who earn too much for social housing but can't afford market prices. It also targets the regulation of short-term rentals in stressed housing markets, with new EU laws expected by 2026. However, the EU stopped short of large-scale funding or strict measures against speculation. National governments hold the real power to act. Pressure mounts to shift away from treating homes purely as assets and to reinvest in social housing, extending help beyond the poorest. The EU's new step signals its growing awareness of the urgent housing crisis across Europe.