Public sector leadership needed to relieve Europe’s ‘squeezed middle’ of homebuyers and renters

Research from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) provides recommendations for Europe’s cities in building more homes tailored to a “squeezed middle” of homebuyers and renters — those not eligible for social housing but unable to afford market prices or rents — based on existing best practices across the real estate value chain.

The best practice report by ULI Europe pinpoints the crucial role of the public sector to increase this supply of “intermediate housing” at scale. The public sector is deemed crucial by providing a long-term stable vision, strategy and framework for providing intermediate housing, while at the same time directly enabling more land for development. The public sector is also integral to determining who will be eligible to live within intermediate homes for the long term, all in effective partnership with the private sector.

Pricing and availability of land is seen as the most significant barriers to increased supply based on a survey of