In the fifteen states that currently form the Union with a total population of 370 million people, the housing stock numbers more than 170 million apartments. Of course, this brilliant statistic is somewhat spoiled by the fact that, firstly, some housing is empty for various reasons, and secondly, many families own several apartments and individual houses at once. And yet, how did Western Europeans come to such a life?
History of the issue
The turbulent political events of the past century in the Old World had a direct impact on the pace of construction. Two world wars, a severe economic crisis in the period between them, the baby boom of the late 1940s - early 1950s, then the first oil crisis and waves of immigration.
In the middle of the last century, the housing problem in Western Europe was one of the most acute, especially in countries that suffered more than others from military operations (and Spain and Greece also experienced civil wars). The authorities were forced to direct enormous efforts to restore destroyed and build new houses. The leaders in this matter were the Federal Republic of Germany and Great Britain.
The demographic boom of that period significantly increased the need for separate apartments. Moreover, the new generation of Europeans, starting from the 1970s, sought to live separately from their parents, and the former metropolises - France, Belgium, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Portugal - also faced a massive return of former colonists to their homeland. The state and private companies responded in a timely manner to the unprecedented demand for housing, which led to a peak in construction that occurred in the early 1970s. As a result, more than half of Ireland's current housing stock, 47% of Greece's, and 44% of Spain's were built after 1971.
Then the economic downturn and rising unemployment, a sharp jump in oil prices on the world market, slowed down this process. However, most Western European governments continued to consider providing the population with housing - whether public or private, through a system of affordable lending - as one of their main tasks. Nevertheless, a new surge in the pace of construction of apartments and individual houses in the Community came only at the beginning of the 1990s. During that period, the need for housing increased sharply, despite demographic stagnation: it was caused by a powerful influx of immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe, as well as from former colonies.
What about now?
Since 1995, sustained economic growth and falling unemployment in Spain, Ireland, and to a lesser extent Portugal, have allowed them to achieve the most impressive successes in this area. On the Spanish and Portuguese coasts, economy-class dacha settlements and summer residences (i.e., dachas) began to appear, although many of them are bought or rented for long periods by German and British pensioners.
Things were different in the Federal Republic of Germany: the enormous financial burdens of reunification with the former GDR, an unprecedented influx of immigrants (3.5 million people in just three years!) caused a serious housing shortage. However, already in 1999, about six new apartments per thousand people were being built in Germany; it even surpassed France (5.4) and Great Britain (3.4) in this indicator. Now Ireland leads by a large margin, with 12.4 apartments built annually per thousand residents. It is followed by Greece and Portugal - 9 each, as well as Spain - 7. Among other things, this is explained by the fact that these countries have the largest families.
The Cost of the Issue
The least housing is currently being built in some of the richest EU countries - Denmark, where GDP per capita exceeds 27 thousand euros, and Sweden (about 23 thousand euros). This is because the housing issue is no longer considered a priority for Scandinavians. At the same time, in almost all Union states, the main efforts are now directed at reconstruction and renovation of old buildings.
The experience of the EU countries in providing housing for their population shows that solving this complex problem is one of the priorities of government economic policy, which is also considered a powerful stimulus for the development of many industries. It is obvious that housing construction directly depends on the volume of capital investment. Suffice it to say that in Germany and Ireland they exceed 30% of all domestic investment, and in France, the Netherlands, Austria, and Italy they reach almost 25%. In addition, all fifteen states allocate considerable funds for the ongoing maintenance of housing. The authorities rightly consider the housing stock, regardless of its form of ownership, to be one of the main national treasures that should be preserved and increased.