The average floor area of dwellings in England in 2024 varied by tenure type. In this year, the usable floor area was largest for owner occupiers (110 square meters), followed by private renters (75 square meters). The smallest dwellings were those belonging to social renters (66 square meters). In 2025, around 4 million houses in England were of the social housing kind.

In the decades between 1930 and 2020, the size of the average living room in newly built houses in Britain has risen from 16 square meters in the 1930s, to 24.9 square meters in the 1970s, before falling to 17.1 square meters in recent years. The reason for the increase in living room size (and house sizes in general) between 1950 and 1980, was due to Britain's economic recovery after the Second World War. However, decreasing family sizes caused the demand for larger houses to drop from the 1980s onwards, and today, newly built living rooms are closer in size to their pre-war levels than their size in the previous decade.

The size of the average kitchen in newly-built houses in each decade since the 1930s has risen from its smallest size of 12.3 square meters in the 1930s, to their largest size of 15.4 square meters in the 1960s. From this point onwards, declining family sizes and the desire for separate dining areas has led to a decrease in kitchen size, and since 2000 the average kitchen size has been 13.4 square meters.

The average transaction price of new housing in Europe was the highest in Norway, whereas existing homes were the most expensive in Austria. Since there is no central body that collects and tracks transaction activity or house prices across the whole continent or the European Union, not all countries are included. To compile the ranking, the source weighed the transaction prices of residential properties in the most important cities in each country based on data from their national offices. For example, in Germany, the cities included were Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and Berlin. House prices have been soaring, with Sweden topping the ranking Considering the RHPI of houses in Europe (the price index in real terms, which measures price changes of single-family properties adjusted for the impact of inflation), however, the picture changes. Sweden, Luxembourg and Norway top this ranking, meaning residential property prices have surged the most in these countries. Real values were calculated using the so-called Personal Consumption Expenditure Deflator (PCE), This PCE uses both consumer prices as well as consumer expenditures, like medical and health care expenses paid by employers. It is meant to show how expensive housing is compared to the way of living in a country. Home ownership highest in Eastern Europe The home ownership rate in Europe varied from country to country. In 2020, roughly half of all homes in Germany were owner-occupied whereas home ownership was at nearly 97 percent in Romania or around 90 percent in Slovakia and Lithuania. These numbers were considerably higher than in France or Italy, where homeowners made up 65 percent and 72 percent of their respective populations.For more information on the topic of property in Europe, visit the following pages as a starting point for your research: real estate investments in Europe and residential real estate in Europe.

In 2024, London had the highest housing construction costs for residential buildings in the United Kingdom. The expense of building an apartment high-rise in the UK's capital amounted to 4,133 British pounds per square meter of internal area, while the cost of townhouses were 3,280 British pounds per square meter. Manchester was the second city on the list with the highest residential construction costs.

What is the average price of residential property in the Netherlands? In the third quarter of 2024, a single-family home cost approximately 434,000 euros. There were large differences between the Dutch provinces, however. Single-family homes were most expensive in the central province of Utrecht with an average price of 731,000 euros, whereas a similar house in Groningen had an average price tag of 384,000 euros. Overall, the average price a private individual would pay when buying any type of existing residential property (such as single-family homes but also, for example, an apartment) was approximately 416,000 euros in 2023. Do the Dutch prefer to buy or to rent a house? The Netherlands had a slightly higher homeownership rate (the share of owner-occupied dwellings of all homes) in 2023 than other countries in Northwestern Europe. About 70 percent of all Dutch houses were owned, whereas this percentage was lower in Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. This is an effect of past developments: the price to rent ratio (the development of the nominal purchase price of a house divided by the annual rent of a similar place with 2015 as a base year) shows that the gap between house prices and rents has continuously widened in recent years. Despite a slight decline in the ratio due to slowing house price growth and accelerating rental growth, in 2023, the cost of buying a home had grown significantly faster relative to the cost of renting. Mortgages in the Netherlands Additionally, the Netherlands has one of the highest mortgage debts among private individuals in Europe. In 2024, total debt exceeded 839 billion euros. This has a political background, as the Dutch tax system allowed homeowners for many years to deduct interest paid on mortgage from pre-tax income for a maximum period of thirty years, essentially allowing for income support for homeowners. In the Netherlands, this system is known as hypotheekrenteaftrek. Note that since 2014, the Dutch government is slowly scaling this down, with a planned acceleration from 2020 onwards.

In 2023, the average cost of building a new rental house in the Netherlands reached 428 euros per cubic meter. Building owner-occupied property was slightly cheaper to construct. The source mentions that the numbers concern an average on granted building permits for newly to be constructed homes with a total construction cost of more than 50,000 euros (excluding taxes over the last 12 months). Permits which combine living areas with holiday homes and/or offices were not counted. Note that no numbers were provided on renovation.

What is the market size of the construction industry in the Netherlands?

As of 2022, the Netherlands had over 254,417 active construction companies. These companies were either active in the construction of buildings or development of building projects, civil engineering or were involved in specialized construction activities. One of the more internationally well-known Dutch construction firms is BAM, which is also active in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany with project deliveries in Denmark, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The revenue of the Royal BAM Group reached a value of 6.3 billion euros in 2023.

How much do you pay for a house in the Netherlands?

Utrecht was one of the provinces in the Netherlands with the highest price for a single-family house. It is also important to look at the different prices in Dutch cities, as they can vary significantly. Residential property in Amsterdam, cities surrounding the Dutch capital (such as Haarlem) or Utrecht sold for much higher prices than a house in, for example, Rotterdam.

In 2024, London was still the most expensive UK city for office construction. This was true at least for the cities included in the list, and it applies to prestige and A-Grade offices. Both A-Grade and prestige offices in London were more expensive than any type of office construction in Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, or Leeds. After London, Cambridge and Oxford are also some of the other UK cities with the highest house prices in 2023. Office rents in London Not only did London prove to have high building costs, rents for prime offices were equally high, with the West End core as the most expensive districts in the city. The area to the North of Buckingham Palace is known for its exclusive townhouses largely owned by the foreign elite and upscale hotels and restaurants. Stratford and the rest of the Docklands were the cheapest districts in London. Office investments in the UK In the last quarter of 2023, the value of office investments in London increased slightly in comparison to previous quarters. Investments in the City and Southbank, however, dropped in value. The volume of investment in commercial real estate in the UK fluctuated a lot in the past months, with some years showing high volumes of investment in office real estate, and other months where those values fell rapidly.

The house price to income index in Europe declined in almost all European countries in 2023, indicating that income grew faster than house prices. Portugal, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands led the house price to income index ranking in 2023, with values exceeding 125 index points. Romania, Bulgaria, and Finland were on the other side of the spectrum, with less than 100 index points. The house price to income ratio is an indicator for the development of housing affordability across OECD countries and is calculated as the nominal house prices divided by nominal disposable income per head, with 2015 chosen as a base year. A ratio higher than 100 means that the nominal house price growth since 2015 has outpaced the nominal disposable income growth, and housing is therefore comparatively less affordable. In 2023, the OECD average stood at 117.4 index points.

A single member household uses an average of 54 cubic meters of water annually in the United Kingdom. This figure almost doubled when there were two members per household and increased to approximately 191 cubic meters within a household of five. In terms of daily use, a single person household used an estimated 149 liters per day, with water usage amounting to 276 liters per day when two people lived at home. Baths consume the most water There are many household appliances that use water, such as dishwashers, washing machines or toilets, and each uses varying amounts. However, it is baths that use the largest quantity. On average, a bath consumes 80 liters of water per use. In comparison, a shower uses 46 liters per use. Household water bills The average household water bill in the UK differs from company to company. In 2018, customers of water supply and sewerage utility Wessex Water paid on average 245 British pounds for their water bill. This was the most expensive in the UK. Water bills were on average cheapest for customers of Southern Water, at an estimated 158 British pounds. Southern Water covers areas of East Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

In 2023, the most expensive residential rental market in Europe was London (inner) with rental costs of approximately 33.8 euros per square meter. Dublin and Paris followed with rental costs of 31.5 and 31.3 euros per square meter. Rents increased across most markets - a trend that could also be observed in the housing market. How much does an apartment cost in different European cities? Renting a furnished studio apartment in some of the leading cities in Europe can cost anywhere between 500 euros monthly (Budapest) and 2,000 euros (Amsterdam) per month. For afurnished one-bedroom apartment in Paris, France, one may be expected to pay on average 1,900 euros monthly. Which countries have the most affordable housing? The house price to rent ratio is an indicator of the affordability of owning housing over renting across European countries and is calculated as the nominal house prices divided by a rent price index. The higher the ratio, the more the gap between house prices and rental rates has widened since 2015 when the index base was 100. As of the fourth quarter of 2021, Finland, Italy, and Belgium had the lowest house price to rent ratio, meaning that buying a house was most affordable there compared to renting.

The Swiss cities of Geneva and Zurich had some of the highest construction costs in Europe, with a price of well over 5,000 U.S. dollars per square meter built as of 2024. London was the third city at 4,473 U.S. dollars per square meter, closely followed by Munich and Dublin. When it comes to the construction cost of education buildings in the UK, Glasgow was more expensive than London. However, this is an exception, as generally, London is the most expensive city to build in the UK.