Irish rents consuming up to 80% of young adults’ wages, new EU report finds
Eurofound warns housing costs are delaying independence and family formation for a generation
Thursday, 8 January 2026
More than 80% of a young adult’s median wage is now required to rent a standard two-room apartment in parts of Ireland, placing the State among the most unaffordable rental markets in Europe, according to new research from Eurofound.
The findings are published in Eurofound’s report Foundational challenges: The housing struggles of Europe’s youth, which examines housing affordability across EU Member States and its impact on young people’s ability to live independently. The report shows that while housing pressures are widespread, Ireland stands out for the scale and consistency of rental unaffordability across all regions.
Across the EU, average house prices have increased by 55.4% and rents by 26.7% since 2010, significantly outpacing income growth. Young adults have been particularly affected, as they are more likely to be in lower-paid or insecure employment and are disproportionately reliant on the private rental sector.
Eurofound identifies Ireland alongside Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal and Spain as countries where renting a modest two-room apartment can absorb more than 80% of a young person’s median wage. In Ireland, rental costs exceed 60% of wages in every region and rise above 80% in some areas, effectively requiring two incomes to afford even a starter flat.
The report highlights that in certain coastal and high-demand regions across Europe, rents can exceed 100% of a young adult’s income, making independent living impossible without additional household earners. While Ireland does not reach this threshold nationally, the report notes that sustained high rents, combined with limited supply, are having profound social effects.
One of the clearest impacts is the delay in young adults leaving the family home. In Ireland, the share of 25–34-year-olds living with their parents rose sharply from 23% in 2018 to 40% in 2023, one of the largest increases in the EU over that period. The trend is even more pronounced among students, with 93% now living at home, up from 73% a decade earlier.
Eurofound also finds that young people who do manage to rent independently are more likely to be overburdened by housing costs and to live in poorer-quality accommodation than older age groups. In many urban areas across the EU, including Ireland, the report concludes that very little rental stock is affordable to a single young person on a median wage.
These pressures are contributing to wider social and economic consequences, including delayed household formation, postponed family planning and reduced labour mobility. Survey data cited in the report shows a significant gap between how young adults are living and how they would prefer to live, with knock-on effects for career choices and wellbeing.
The report comes as housing has been assigned a dedicated portfolio at European Commission level for the first time. Eurofound argues that policy responses should prioritise increasing the supply of affordable starter homes, rather than relying primarily on demand-side supports such as subsidies or tax incentives.
It also points to the potential of vacant and underused buildings as an underutilised resource that could be refurbished to ease housing shortages, and calls for greater neutrality between renting and owning in fiscal policy.
Eurofound concludes that without decisive action, housing affordability pressures will continue to undermine living standards and future prospects for an entire generation of Europeans, with Ireland among the countries facing the most acute challenges for young renters.
