Living and Leaving : Housing, Mobility and Welfare in the European Union
The availability and affordability of decent housing has become an important economic and social concern in the European Union (EU), as housing price increases in metropolitan regions have often outpaced wage increases. Housing is at the heart of g...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/947981541623732950/Living-and-Leaving-Housing-Mobility-and-Welfare-in-the-European-Union http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30898 |
| Summary: | The availability and affordability of
decent housing has become an important economic and social
concern in the European Union (EU), as housing price
increases in metropolitan regions have often outpaced wage
increases. Housing is at the heart of growing economic
divides in Europe. This is because productivity growth,
which comes with higher wages and better jobs, is
concentrated in cities and industrial clusters. Housing is
unaffordable in metropolitan centers because the
construction of new homes has not kept up with demand,
reducing the standard of living of low-income households,
and dissuading workers from moving to the most productive
regions. While policy incentives have favored homeowners
since the 1970s, less attention and resources have been
devoted to easing the potential barriers and market
restrictions that would allow housing supply to respond to
increases in demand. Across EU member states, policymakers
should focus on ensuring that land use, rental and other
regulations are consistent with incentives to spur
residential construction. The report highlights three key
recommendations for EU policymakers: earmark unused public
land for housing development and speed up approval
processes; invest in greenfield projects with improved
transportation links from suburban areas, to ensure cities
cast a wider economic net; and create public registries to
improve transparency of house sale prices to help greater
competition between areas. |
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