The Housing Games
Mapping housing affordability for essential workers
The European project “The Housing Games” investigates whether the people essential to keep our cities running can still afford to live in them. From nurses and cleaners to teachers, drivers and first responders, these are the city’s key staff. They make daily life possible and our urban societies work. Yet, key workers are increasingly priced out of the very places they serve.
The COVID-19 era made it clear that cities cannot function without their labour — and that their jobs cannot be done from behind a screen. It is therefore vital for our physical and social well-being that they find places to stay in the cities they work in. Yet, some of these employees often earn low wages, making it hard to combine work and sleep.
This project compares salaries with rent and property prices across European cities to expose the widening gap between the value of essential work and the cost of a place to call home.
Who can still afford to rent in European cities?
In Berlin, once known for its affordable rents, the housing crisis has reached a critical stage. Few essential professions can now find affordable apartments in most parts of the city. Teachers, nurses, and police officers often face rents that consume well over 30 percent of their income — a threshold long considered the upper limit of affordability.
Even in outer districts like Marzahn or Spandau, affordability for middle-income earners is slipping away. For many key workers, the dream of living near their jobs in central Berlin has become unattainable.
Prague faces a similar affordability crisis, driven by surging housing costs and limited public housing supply. Rents for a modest 50 m² flat now consume 30–50 percent of a key worker’s income. With median net salaries around €1,700 — and essential workers earning several hundred euros less — many struggle to stay in the city.
Prague’s municipal housing stock has dwindled from 100,000 to fewer than 30,000 flats due to privatization, and even city-owned units are becoming pricier. Without new investment in affordable or employer-supported housing, experts warn, the city risks losing the very workers it depends on as its population grows by an expected 300,000 by 2050.
In Vienna, a city often celebrated for its social housing model, the picture is more nuanced. More than half of Vienna’s 750,000 rental apartments are publicly subsidized or run by non-profit cooperatives, keeping rents relatively low for long-term residents. However, newcomers and younger workers often find themselves locked out of these benefits. They must wait two years to qualify for social housing, and even non-profit flats often require large upfront payments.
Our data analysis shows that kindergarten teachers, paramedics, and nurses spend more than 30 percent of their income on private market rents, especially in newer buildings. While Vienna’s housing system remains a European benchmark, it is showing signs of strain under population growth and rising demand.
Brussels’s analysis reveals, that early career key workers can no longer afford to rent in any of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels Capital Region, as median rents have soared from €950 to €1,213 since 2021. Even with a decade of experience, many essential professionals still exceed the affordability threshold.
Recognizing the danger, one of the local political parties has proposed adopting London’s “key worker” housing model — reserving part of public housing for essential professions near their workplaces. As Brussels State Secretary Ans Persoons warns, forcing key workers to move out of the city not only risks staff shortages but also worsens commuting, traffic, and fiscal pressures.
