Rent in the EU 2026: How Much Does It Cost and Where Is Housing Hard to Find?

Rental prices in the EU vary significantly from country to country. Find out where apartments are most affordable, where housing is difficult to find, and what is changing in 2026

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When someone plans a move, the biggest hit to the budget most often comes from the apartment, not from plane tickets or paperwork. Rent in the EU varies widely: the gap between the cheapest and the most expensive country is more than fourfold, and the price in a listing tells only half the story. How much people pay for rent across the 27 EU countries, and where finding a flat means competing with dozens of other applicants, was analyzed by MoveMap EU.

The experts ranked the countries from cheapest to most expensive by the approximate monthly rent for a modest one-bedroom apartment. This is not a sample of real listings but rough national estimates, which the authors themselves describe as illustrative. Prices in capitals and large cities are noticeably higher, so the figures are best treated as a guide for comparing countries rather than a price list for a specific city.

Read also: Helsinki tops the Nordic real estate ranking.

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Rent Costs in Europe: Ranking of 27 Countries

The most affordable country in the ranking is Bulgaria, where the standard payment is around 450 euros a month. From there, prices rise as follows:

- Romania: 500 euros;

- Croatia and Greece: 550 euros each;

- Hungary, Latvia and Slovakia: 600 euros each.

Mid-range: between 700 and 1,000 euros

- Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia ask 700 each;

- Czechia and Estonia: 750 each;

- Italy: 850;

- Cyprus and Malta: 900 each;

- Belgium and Portugal: 950 each.

Highest prices: from 1,000 euros

- Austria, Finland, France and Spain: 1,000 euros;

- Germany and Sweden: 1,100 euros;

- Denmark: 1,200 euros;

- the Netherlands: 1,500 euros;

- Ireland: 1,700 euros;

- Luxembourg: 1,900 euros.

However, the market does not stand still. According to Eurostat, rents in the EU in the first quarter of 2026 were on average 3% higher than a year earlier. Compared with the 2025 average, they rose by 21.9% in Croatia, 6.4% in Bulgaria and 5% in Greece. They fell only in Slovenia (by 0.9%), while prices in Finland did not change. As a result, the budget countries in the ranking are moving toward average prices faster than it might seem, and it is worth checking the figures against current listings before you start searching.

We explain here where foreigners can buy property in 2026.

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What Lies Behind the Housing Market Pressure Score?

The researchers assessed not only money but also how hard it actually is to find a place to live. The score reflects the balance of demand, supply and competition among tenants, and the lower it is, the easier the search.

In Bulgaria it is 45, in Romania 48, and in Latvia and Lithuania 50 each. At the opposite end are Ireland (92), the Netherlands (90), Luxembourg (85) and Portugal (80).

The most interesting cases are where price and search difficulty diverge:

- Cheap and relatively easy: Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia, with rent from 450 to 700 euros and a score of 45–52.

- Moderate price, fierce competition: Portugal (950 euros, score 80) and Spain (1,000 euros, score 75).

- Expensive and difficult at once: Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Finland is the reverse example. Rent there is the same as in Spain or France, at 1,000 euros, yet its score is only 55, so finding a flat is much easier than in Germany or Spain. Separately, MoveMap assesses the relative cost of living in the EU. The lowest values belong to Bulgaria (40), Romania (42) and Poland (45), and the highest to Luxembourg (88), Denmark (82), and the Netherlands and Ireland (80 each). Poland stands out here: rent reaches 700 euros, yet overall expenses are among the lowest in the Union.

For more detail on how much housing costs in Portugal, see the analysis from Visit World.

The Capital or a Second City: Where to Look for a Flat?

The fiercest competition for housing is concentrated in large, popular cities. The European Commission cites telling figures: over ten years, rents rose by 59% in Berlin, 75% in Madrid and 103% in Lisbon. But that does not mean affordable housing does not exist. According to MoveMap, choosing a suburb or a second-largest city often turns an exhausting search into a calm one and barely increases other costs.

The difference is clear from the 60 cities the same platform analyzes. A one-bedroom apartment there costs from 340 euros in Plovdiv to 1,900 euros in Luxembourg, and takes from 27% to 87% of a typical net salary. The cheapest city in a country is often 20–30% cheaper than its national figure.

What Changes in 2026: Rules for Short-Term Rentals?

Tourist rentals also affect housing availability. According to the European Commission, they make up about 1.2% of the EU housing stock, but in tourist hubs their share reaches 20%, and activity on the major platforms grew by 93% between 2018 and 2024. Since May 2026, a regulation has been in force requiring such listings to be registered and platform data to be shared with national authorities.

On 9 September, the European Commission also proposed the Affordable Housing Act. It does not ban short-term rentals and does not oblige anyone to act; it only sets out the conditions under which a city may restrict them, as well as second homes and long-vacant apartments. Authorities must prove that these phenomena have noticeably harmed housing affordability for at least three years, and any restrictions must be proportionate. For now this is only a proposal: the European Parliament and member states still have to agree on the text, so nothing changes for tenants in the near future. Whether it will bring more housing for long-term rent is an open question, since the Commission itself acknowledges that the root cause of the shortage is a lack of supply.

Follow the link to see where the real estate market in Europe is growing fastest.

Where to Start Your Search and How to Avoid Mistakes?

It is worth comparing countries on three dimensions at once: rent price, competition for housing and overall costs. A cheap flat in a country where dozens of people fight over every listing can cost several weeks of searching and a paid hotel. That is why a move to the EU is easier to plan with time to spare, a second city in reserve and an idea of which documents a landlord will ask for. And the contract, the deposit and the landlord's ownership rights are best checked before anyone receives the first transfer.

A real estate lawyer on VisitWorld can prepare or review a contract, additional agreements and title documents. If a dispute arises with the landlord, the lawyer will represent your interests. Such help is especially appropriate when you are looking for housing from abroad and cannot view it in person.

Choose a real estate lawyer on VisitWorld to make your housing search abroad a pleasant experience. 

Remember! A low tax rate does not mean you will pay less after moving. What matters are the sources of income and the conditions for accessing tax benefits. We have already covered countries with favorable tax conditions and the factors that affect their positions in the ranking.

Photo: generated by Gemini