For the previous seven years, Dejana Stosic, 26, has been renting in Belgrade, the Serbian capital. Originally from a small city within the south of the nation, Stostic not too long ago discovered a job with the next wage at a non-public firm. But the price of dwelling stays excessive, and she or he has no plans to depart her present house-share.
“It takes me an hour and a half to get to work, however I can’t afford to maneuver nearer to the workplace, which is located in considered one of Belgrade’s pricier neighbourhoods”, she says. “For some years now, I’ve been spending greater than half of my wage on payments and hire.”
A couple of years in the past, the Ministry of Space, a Belgrade-based NGO specialising in city growth, created an open-source map that collects rental and sale listings within the Belgrade market and compares them to common and median salaries. It seems that Stosic’s expertise just isn’t unusual. In most components of Belgrade, the map reveals crimson, indicating that housing is much from reasonably priced.
Recently, the Serbian authorities launched a mortgage scheme for folks aged 20 to 35 who’re buying their first property. The down-payment is just one p.c. However, to qualify, a citizen initially wanted to have a long-term contract, whereas the unemployed wanted a guarantor.
After an outpouring of objections, the Serbian authorities modified the regulation in May, permitting folks on momentary contracts to additionally apply below the identical circumstances because the unemployed, who want a guarantor. The change means Stosic now qualifies for the scheme, overcoming the impediment that her lack of a long-term contract as soon as posed.
Currently, renting a one-bedroom flat in central Belgrade can price wherever between €600 and €1,200*, in line with Numbeo, an open-source database. In suburban Belgrade, costs vary from €300 to €650 for a one-bedroom flat, excluding utilities.
Eurostat defines reasonably priced housing as costing lower than 40% of a family’s disposable revenue. Marko Aksentijevic, from the Ministry of Space, clarifies that this determine contains month-to-month payments.
Serbia’s common month-to-month wage in December 2024 was €837, in line with official statistics. A extra correct reflection of typical revenue is median wage, which additionally highlights revenue inequality. In December 2024, Serbia’s median wage was €677.60.
“This implies that a household of three in Belgrade, with two median incomes, will pay as much as €400 for hire and payments with out it being a monetary burden”, says Aksentijevic. However, the flats presently marketed at that determine are “principally studios”, he provides. “They have to decide on between squeezing right into a small house or paying greater than they’ll afford. The scenario is alarming.”
Aksentijevic explains that most individuals who work within the public sector, training, and repair industries, the place salaries are sometimes under common, can’t afford to stay close to their workplaces.
The Covid-19 pandemic, along with the Ukraine battle, have considerably elevated the price of dwelling and so worsened Europe’s ongoing housing disaster.
“Rental costs in Belgrade soared in 2022, rising by as much as 50% in lower than a yr. The surge was largely pushed by the arrival of hundreds of Russians fleeing their nation after Russia invaded Ukraine greater than three years in the past”, City Expert, considered one of Serbia’s largest actual property companies, informed K2.0. Following that abrupt spike, costs step by step declined over the following two years, by round 20% in 2023 and an additional 10% in 2024.
In cities like Belgrade, Tirana, and Prishtina, the mixed price of hire and utilities could now exceed common wages. The rising hole between provide and demand pushes mortgage and rental prices ever increased. It is making housing more and more unaffordable, notably for younger folks.
Kosovo residents transfer to unaffordable city areas
Last yr marked a milestone in Kosovo’s city growth. For the primary time, the vast majority of the inhabitants (50.2%) lives in city areas, in comparison with 38% in 2011, in line with information from the UN programme UN-Habitat.
“This represents a significant shift towards city dwelling and displays broader socio-economic modifications going down throughout the nation”, Besnike Koçani, from UN-Habitat, informed K2.0.
The 1998-1999 battle in Kosovo had a big influence on housing availability. According to Kocani, 40% of homes had been destroyed or severely broken. In response, a lot of the agricultural inhabitants moved to cities seeking shelter.
“As a consequence, the housing panorama skilled a big rise in casual development, notably through the early 2000s”, provides Koçani. “This occurred primarily as a result of weak institutional oversight and inadequate planning,”
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Kosovo’s city areas turned denser, dominated by residence buildings that had been usually constructed with out consideration for infrastructure capability or planning rules. This has led to uncontrolled city sprawl, rising strain on public companies, and deepening growth disparities between municipalities. Some areas, particularly Prishtina, have skilled one other development growth in recent times. According to UN-Habitat information shared with K2.0, the overall variety of housing models has elevated by 41.3%, from 412,000 in 2011 to 583,000 in 2024. At the identical time, the variety of vacant homes and flats has almost doubled, rising from 99,808 in 2011 to 182,849 in 2024.
This rise in emptiness charges is intently tied to Kosovo’s massive diaspora. Hundreds of hundreds of Kosovans stay and work overseas, notably in Western Europe. Many members of them put money into actual property of their hometowns as a future retirement plan or to assist their households. The properties in query usually stay unoccupied for many of the yr, as their house owners return solely throughout holidays or summer season visits. Such investments enhance the development sector, however additionally they distort the housing market by lowering the availability and so inflating property values.
In Prishtina, renting a one-bedroom residence prices between €225 (within the suburbs) and over €300 (within the metropolis centre), in line with Numbeo. The real-estate listings of rental companies present that one-bedroom flats for below €300 are almost nonexistent. A 3-bedroom residence sometimes rents for over €300 exterior town centre and greater than €600 in central areas.
There isn’t any official information on how a lot real-estate costs in Kosovo have elevated in recent times. “My estimate is that the rise over the previous years was between 20 and 30%”, says Driton Tafallari, housing and concrete growth professional.
Even with out official information, it’s evident that actual property costs in Kosovo have sharply elevated. In 2014, a 64 square-metre residence on “Rruga B” was bought for €720/sqm. Today, the typical value in the identical neighborhood exceeds €1,300/sqm.
Aside from affordability, Koçani notes that substandard infrastructure is widespread in Kosovo. Problems abound with water provide, sewage, vitality, and transportation.
Kosovo reviews the bottom common wage within the area: €552 internet, in line with the latest official information, from December 2024. Albania ranks between Belgrade and Prishtina in revenue ranges, with common month-to-month earnings about 30% decrease than in Serbia and 37% increased than in Kosovo.
Living with mother and father by necessity
Albania is dealing with an identical housing disaster, with hovering rents and stagnant wages. Despite rampant development and fast city growth, affordability is a significant situation, particularly within the capital, and particularly for younger folks.
Emre Berisha, a 25-year-old taxi driver from Tirana, lives together with his mother and father of their household dwelling, like 70% of younger Albanians. Driving previous Tirana’s vibrant facades, he shares his grim perspective. “I don’t see how I’ll ever afford to maneuver out – my wage would wish to virtually double”, says Berisha.
Renting a one-bedroom residence in central Tirana can price between €500 and €900 euros a month, dropping to €350-500 within the suburbs, in line with Numbeo. These figures, which exclude utilities, already far exceed the 40% threshold of month-to-month revenue used to outline reasonably priced housing.
Tirana, Prishtina, and Belgrade are the financial centres of their respective international locations, attracting massive numbers of younger individuals who transfer there to check and pursue job alternatives. Unlike Berisha, lots of them do not need household houses there, and are compelled to hire. “Not proudly owning an residence mixed with excessive costs makes it very tough for them to stay”, says Teuta Nunaj-Kortoçi, an economist from Albania.
“In concept, the one approach out of dwelling with my mother and father is getting married and securing a financial institution mortgage”, says Berisha. Such a burden is extra simply shared between two folks.
Beyond typical financial institution loans, Berisha will in all probability not qualify for Albania’s soft-loan scheme for younger married {couples}. Launched in 2018 and revised in 2020, the scheme has continued to focus completely on {couples}, however has confronted widespread criticism for its inadequacies.
Meanwhile, in 2025, round 1,200 {couples} accessed social housing in Tirana. To qualify, they have to show that their present housing falls under minimal requirements.
Demand for the scheme far exceeds its capability. Between 2018 and 2022, solely 2,652 out of seven,645 functions had been authorized – lower than half, in line with official information.
In Belgrade, Stoisic has an identical expertise. “Buying property nonetheless looks as if a mission unimaginable – perhaps if I get married and have youngsters, I may safe a mortgage for {couples},” Stoisic says.
In Serbia, the Parliament not too long ago adopted amendments to the regulation on backed mortgage schemes for residents aged between 20 and 35. Irrespective of employment standing, first-property consumers can apply for as much as €100,000 of state-subsidized loans. The minimal deposit is just one p.c, and compensation could be unfold over 40 years. Thousands of individuals utilized, and the scheme was criticized as unsustainable.
There are two different sorts of loans obtainable for {couples} struggling to purchase property, each geared toward underdeveloped cities and villages. In 2021, the Ministry of Rural Welfare launched a small grant scheme providing €10,000 to households wishing to buy homes in rural areas. The alternative is open to folks below 45, together with married or cohabiting {couples}, single mother and father, and younger farmers. Applicants should be present renters, have a level in medication, pharmacy, agriculture, veterinary medication, or work in crafts, jobs which might be suitable with dwelling within the countryside.
In Kosovo, there are presently no housing schemes particularly for younger folks. However, in December 2024, the Kosovo Assembly handed the Draft Law on Social and Affordable Housing. The regulation lays the groundwork for an eight-year nationwide housing technique and proposes the creation of a Housing Agency to supervise and centralize implementation. It introduces reasonably priced housing initiatives, together with subsidies for residence purchases focusing on younger folks amongst 17 recognized teams.
The regulation additionally extends social housing advantages to these unable to afford market-priced housing, capping hire at 30% of a household’s revenue. Young folks have been newly included as a goal class, although the regulation doesn’t but define concrete measures for them.
Can social housing present an answer?
In Western Europe, social housing is meant not just for low-income households however as a stepping stone for entry to the property market. The scenario is kind of totally different in Serbia, Kosovo, and Albania. Despite a rising variety of folks fighting housing affordability, the restricted social housing obtainable is reserved virtually completely for the poorest. Even then, lengthy ready lists stay.
In Albania, social housing, each private and non-private, accounts for under 0.1% of the overall residential inventory, in line with a 2014 report by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (the latest evaluation on the topic). In Serbia, the state owns simply 0.5% of the actual property inventory.
In a 2016 regulation, Serbia changed the time period “social housing” with the idea of “housing assist”. This contains social flats rented to low-income households at backed charges, although tenants are nonetheless required to cowl utility payments. For many – notably seasonal staff and casual labourers – even paying the payments is unaffordable. Many discover themselves in debt and susceptible to eviction, in line with A11, a Belgrade-based rights group.
The variety of Serbians in want of assist is rising. According to the Ministry of Construction, solely the wealthiest 10% can hire or purchase housing with out experiencing monetary pressure.
“It is evident that the state has to assist a lot wider sections of the inhabitants than those that stay in extraordinarily tough circumstances”, says Aksentijevic.
In Kosovo, social housing is regulated by municipalities and has not but been consolidated right into a centralized nationwide programme. Between 2003 and 2024, most municipalities constructed or allotted separate buildings particularly for social housing. According to information from the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (MESPI), 20 municipalities presently function social-housing programmes. All are primarily based on the identical mannequin: standalone buildings reserved for beneficiaries.
As in Albania and Serbia, social housing in Kosovo is meant to assist weak residents. However, many others are additionally unable to afford homeownership.
“I don’t see how I’ll ever afford to maneuver out – my wage would wish to virtually double” – Emre Berisha, Taxi driver
Indeed, this downside is turning into a problem throughout the European Union. Only 8% of the EU’s housing inventory is classed as social housing, in line with information from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. In 2022, 69% of the EU inhabitants lived in owner-occupied houses, whereas the remaining 31% had been renting.
Between 2015 and 2023, housing costs within the EU elevated by a median of 47%, whereas rental prices rose by 18%, in line with Efsyn. While no nation within the Western Balkans has recorded housing-related protests in recent times, that’s not the case in different EU international locations.
Spain witnessed among the largest protests in April 2025. Thousands of individuals marched in additional than 40 cities, calling for a greater steadiness between tourism and the liveability for residents. The protests had been concentrated in high-demand places just like the Canary Islands.
In 2023, Spain adopted a regulation that established a nationwide rental-price reference system, which gives information on rental prices in every space and contains measures comparable to tax breaks for landlords who provide reasonably priced rents. In designated high-pressure zones, house owners of huge property portfolios are prohibited from signing new leases that exceed the benchmark value set for his or her space. But the disaster in Spain is much from distinctive.
In Greece, the place tourism dominates the financial system, a housing scarcity has been a supply of public frustration for over a decade. Property costs peaked in 2024. According to Efsyn, round one-third of Greek residents spend greater than 40% of their disposable revenue on housing.
Conversely, Austria is commonly cited as a mannequin for municipal housing coverage. Vienna has been constructing social housing for over 100 years. The programme was launched by the Social Democratic Party after Vienna turned a federal state in 1922. It was initially financed by the sale of bonds and later supported by municipal revenues, together with a particular progressive tax on landlords and taxes on luxurious items — collectively often known as the “Breitner tax,” launched by councillor Hugo Breitner.
Between 2004 and 2019, Vienna constructed 220,000 flats throughout greater than 2,300 municipal buildings. Today, a few quarter of Vienna’s two million inhabitants stay in these models. They profit from low rents, averaging simply €6.67 per sq. metre. Such successful story seems out of attain for many others, each throughout the EU and within the Western Balkans.
**Euro change charges are rounded and up to date as of August 2025.
