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You pay rent. You own nothing. You get blamed. Welcome to housing in your twenties.
By Citizen of Europe | August 7, 2025
👀 This is what it is:
Rents are going up.
Wages? Not really.
You can’t save. You can’t buy. You move every year.
You’re 26 and still living with your parents or roommates.
Or paying €1,400 for a studio that smells like mildew.
And people still ask: “Why don’t you just settle down?”
🧨 The Big Lie
You’ve probably heard this one:
“If you just stopped buying takeout or iced coffee, you could buy a house.”
Cool story. Let’s look at the math.
- A 1-bedroom in Amsterdam? €1,650.
- In Paris? €1,500–€1,700.
- In Lisbon? You’ll fight 30 other people for a place with a shower in the kitchen.
- Rent in most EU cities eats 30–40% of your income.
So yeah—skip the coffee. You’ll own a house in 800 years.
🛑 How We Got Screwed
Older generations bought houses for 3x their salary.
Now? It’s 10x—or more.
Wages stayed the same.
House prices went to the moon.
Governments handed the keys to investors and said: “Let the market decide.”
And the market decided: You’re the product.
🏚️ Airbnb Killed the City
Let’s talk short-term rentals.
- In Lisbon, there are over 6,500 Airbnbs. Long-term rentals? A few hundred.
- In Barcelona, entire neighborhoods are ghost towns in winter.
- Venice is charging tourists a daily tax—but still pushing out locals.
- Amsterdam tried a 30-day cap. Some landlords ignored it.
Tourists get the homes. You get the couch.
🧠 Mental Breakdown, But Make It Rent-Related
This isn’t just “annoying.”
This is real damage:
- Constant housing stress → burnout.
- Moving every year → no roots, no routine.
- No privacy → no rest.
- “When can we have kids?” → With what space? With what money?
A Dutch study said 64% of people under 35 don’t think they’ll ever own a home.
Not by choice. By design.
🦍 Who’s Winning?
- Private equity firms buying apartment blocks and flipping them for rent hikes.
- Tourism platforms cashing in on housing.
- Boomers sitting on €700,000 properties saying “Just work harder.”
Meanwhile, Gen Z is stuck paying someone else’s mortgage.
And still getting told they’re doing adulthood wrong.
🔧 What Can You Even Do?
You’re not powerless—but yeah, it’s hard.
- Find or start a local renters’ group.
- Shame your city into regulating Airbnb.
- Push for vacant-home taxes.
- Vote for housing policies—not “vibes.”
- Stop believing it’s your fault.
This didn’t happen by accident. It happened by policy.
And we can unmake it the same way.
Disclaimer: This article is informational. For legal or housing help, hit up your local tenants’ union, advocacy org, or housing watchdog.
Sources
- Eurostat housing data 2025
- OECD Rental Affordability Index
- Dutch CBS Housing Report 2025
- FEANTSA (European housing and homelessness org)
Published by Citizen of Europe on August 7, 2025
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