News analysis

Housing shortage now one of Europe’s most pressing political crises

A man taking part in a demonstration calling for affordable housing in Lisbon on April 1. PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Rising rents and housing shortages were already a significant challenge in Europe before the pandemic.

But the war in Ukraine, inflation, and high energy and construction costs have transformed a long-running European complaint into one of the continent’s most urgent political crises.

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