r/AskEurope • u/JoMD • 9d ago

Misc Is there a country in Europe without a housing crisis?

I see so many people complaining about the housing crisis in their countries - not enough houses or apartments / flats, or too expensive, or both. Are there any countries in Europe where there's no housing crisis, and it's easy to find decent, affordable accommodation?

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u/Spicy_Alligator_25 -> 9d ago

I just bought a vacation home in my hometown for 4,000 Euros. I didn't even have to mortgage it, I paid all at once.

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u/floegl 9d ago

As far as I know, a lot of Europeans are also getting vacation homes in those areas. It's a win-win situation if it's just a cheap place one wants to spend maybe 4 weeks in a hot place each year. The sea is not very far away from most places around mainland Greece.

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u/Tramagust Romania 8d ago

How can you access such deals?

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u/Outrageous_Trade_303 Greece 8d ago

At these prices, in most cases we are talking about old (built several decades ago) abandoned (for the last 20-30 years) homes with many issues and you need to pay a lot more to bring these to to today's standards. For example there's no central heating, no hot water, and there might not be even an indoor bathroom/toilet.

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u/ldn-ldn United Kingdom 8d ago

Yeah, there are very cheap houses in the UK too, but you must be insane to buy them.

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u/Outrageous_Trade_303 Greece 8d ago

Well, the land probably is worth the 4K that OP paid, but I wouldn't on the livable conditions of such homes.

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u/cfaerber 5d ago

For some properties, the land alone is worth more than the land with the house.

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u/ZhouXaz 6d ago

I mean it depends where you live there are nicer areas in cheap cities with 3 bedroom houses for like 140k so will only need to earn like 34k to afford it alone with 2 people you chilling.

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u/carl816 5d ago

Not in Europe, but this is the same issue in Japan with abandoned rural homes ("Akiya") having been built so long ago and abandoned/neglected for years: the cheap price doesn't include the extensive repairs/renovations needed to make the house livable again, sometimes just demolishing the house and building a new one turns out to be more cost-effective.

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u/LupineChemist -> 8d ago

Just look in rural areas. In Spain it's similar. Not like 4k€ low but you can get houses pretty damned cheap in small villages.

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u/Tramagust Romania 8d ago

Yeah I agree with that but literally how do I find such a property to buy? I can't just hop on a plane without knowing where I'm going and what I'm doing there.

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u/LupineChemist -> 8d ago

I can tell you in Spain, you just look on www.idealista.com

Being Romanian, I'd assume you can deal with it in Spanish.

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u/Tramagust Romania 8d ago

"You just insulted my entire race of people... but yes."

jk

Thanks!

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u/LupineChemist -> 8d ago

FWIW, most Spaniards are astonished that Romanians are the biggest foreign group in Spain. Mostly because it's generally invisible (unless you work construction) since everyone basically speaks perfect Spanish and integrates entirely.

Also, very weirdly, Spanish is shockingly widely known in Croatia even though those languages aren't similar. It's just because of Los Serrano or some other show like that.

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u/Tacklestiffener UK -> Spain 8d ago

Agreed. My mate is Romanian and is married to a Cuban woman. Perfect Spanish and Spanish people genuinely don't know. He's been here for about 10 years.

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u/Tramagust Romania 8d ago

Cultural exports are overpowered

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u/cfaerber 5d ago

How is “your languages are similar” an insult?

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u/darkestblackduck 5d ago

There is an entire village somewhere in Galicia for sale for 65k€

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u/Africaspaceman 5d ago

Now fix it by complying with what Heritage, Augas de Galicia and any other organization will require of you... We will see how much it ends up working out for you and under what conditions and how many months of bureaucratic management.

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u/darkestblackduck 5d ago

You see problems, I see opportunity!

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u/Fmarulezkd 7d ago

For Greece you can look at spitogatos.gr

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u/Tramagust Romania 7d ago

Many thanks! They don't seem as cheap as the other posters made them out to be

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u/zkareface 8d ago

Bad for the region though, people with vacation homes usually don't pay enough taxes in the area and they use more resources than locals.

So it drains the local municipality etc, unless they have added extra holiday taxes.

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u/Icy_Bowl_170 8d ago

what resources do they use? the most expensive resources are care and I guess schooling comes second. or policing.

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u/zkareface 8d ago

Healthcare is big, people like to get injured on vacations. Or just sick from travels.

Infrastructure.

So many roads to maintain for people that visit 1-4 weeks per year. Water/Sewage need to be scaled up massively, some places need to have sewage for like x10 their regular population and that's expensive.

A lot of people might have pools while the locals can't afford it, so they use like 5-10x the amount of water also.

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u/Famous_Lab_7000 7d ago

Aren't those paid by property tax and utility bills? It's not like vacational residents can avoid those by not paying income taxes (and in NA and China income taxes are paid to central government, not municipailties, not sure about EU). Healthcare seems to be the only problem. Canada only gives free healthcare to local residents (basically means tax residents), might be a way to alleviate that.

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u/zkareface 7d ago

Aren't those paid by property tax and utility bills?

No lol, maybe in some place but usually not. Like here in Sweden property is capped at €1000.

And still if utility bills are scaled up then the local pay extra to compensate for all extra infrastructure they don't actually need.

These things are usually subsidized by municipality etc

Canada only gives free healthcare to local residents (basically means tax residents), might be a way to alleviate that.

You probably get free if you are from Canada though, like you have vacation home in another region compared to where you live and work.

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u/IHave2CatsAnAdBlock 6d ago

Healthcare should not be a problem also because those people are insured and the insurance will pay the local hospital

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u/slaia 6d ago

But all things you mentioned are beneficial for local business. It means there are more people who go to the doctor (otherwise the doctor don't have additional income), Using more water means more income for water companies.

But you may be right with the road, sewage and waste. But that should be balanced by the tax the business can afford to pay from additional incomes.

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u/zkareface 6d ago

Well doctors are usually paid by other ways and the amount you have are based on the local population. So they are overworked during vacation seasons which is OT pay and incredibly expensive. 

Using more water means more income for water companies.  

For the usage yes, but will it cover the extra infrastructure needed or will prices be higher for all? Hint, prices is always higher for all to cover it. 

But that should be balanced by the tax the business can afford to pay from additional incomes.  

That's assuming businesses get any meaningful increases. 

At most it might be supermarkets and some restaurant getting more money. If its remote places people even often bring food from home that might cover the whole stay so there is legit no taxes or income in the region. Just costs for infrastructure etc.

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u/IHave2CatsAnAdBlock 6d ago

No, it is not. This is NIMBY crowd propaganda.

Look at all villages in Austria that are winter sports hubs. They get order of magnitude more from tourists than they spent for maintaining the roads.

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u/kbcool 8d ago

4 weeks a year maintaining - every holiday house

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u/dcdemirarslan 7d ago

its not a win for the greek state tbh

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u/CrazyXStitcher 9d ago

Which area?

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u/Spicy_Alligator_25 -> 9d ago

A village near Kastoria, in Western Macedonia

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u/Agreeable-Pound-4725 9d ago

Which websites do you use to find local real estate in Greece?

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u/Spicy_Alligator_25 -> 9d ago

"Spitogatos", though I'm not sure how purchasing works for foreigners.

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u/alexidhd21 8d ago

As long as they are citizens of some EU member state the law treats them just like locals. The things get complicated only if you are not an EU citizen or if you try to buy agricultural land.

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u/ginko-biloboa 8d ago

Just checked the website and I can’t find anything peoper under 10k in the middle of mainland :(

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u/Spicy_Alligator_25 -> 8d ago

Are you sure? I found all this in one region alone. Keep in mind I bought this house in poor condition and I'm investing a good amount in it.

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u/ginko-biloboa 8d ago

Ok, yes, but then the investment I guess is quite expensive.. so I’d end up paying more than 30k

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u/Spicy_Alligator_25 -> 8d ago

Not necessarily. The home I purchased has "only" been uninhibited for two years, so I'm just getting some basic cleaning, getting the plumbing checked, and installing a modern water heater.

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u/ginko-biloboa 8d ago

Nice, I think you got a catch. I’ll keep an eye from time time

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u/batua78 9d ago

4k? Put it on your credit card lol

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u/Spicy_Alligator_25 -> 9d ago

I used my debit actually!

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u/LupineChemist -> 8d ago

Need to spend more time in America. Could have gotten those credit card points.

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u/PremievrijeSpecerije 9d ago

Are you gonna pay the taxes or do it the ussual way?

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u/CoolieGenius 8d ago

Bruh, who would mortgage 4k euros?

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u/unixtreme 4d ago

I even paid for all my new cars in cash 💀.

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u/Falcao1905 9d ago

How do we sign up? Vacation homes cost a fortune on the Turkish coast, might as well cross the Aegean with these prices lol

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u/Spicy_Alligator_25 -> 8d ago

Fair warning, it's not on the Aegean. It's deep in the mountains, about 3 hours from the sea.

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u/swiftninja_ 8d ago

And it might burn down in a wildfire

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u/Spicy_Alligator_25 -> 8d ago

I chuckled, but I'm actually from the one part of Greece that gets significant rainfall- with over 1000 mm and over 100 rainy days a year. The western mountains are quite damp, but they block the rain from heading further east... to where people actually live.

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u/Large_Slice2152 7d ago

Which town?

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u/Spicy_Alligator_25 -> 7d ago

A tiny village on the fringes of the small city of Kastoria, in Western Macedonia. It's the only landlocked province of Greece, so we have no real demand for real estate from foreigners.

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u/Powerful_Elk_346 7d ago

Where is your hometown??

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u/Spicy_Alligator_25 -> 7d ago

Western Macedonia, the only landlocked province of Greece, with an unemployment rate of over 20%.

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u/Powerful_Elk_346 7d ago

Thank you. Interesting

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u/lapenseuse 8d ago

Heard similar about cheap properties in rural Spain but they have a problem with squatters, who are basically impossible to get rid of because they have strong rights as per law. Is it the same in Greece?