In March the student-to-bed ratio in London reached an-all time high of 3.6, a shortfall of 100,000 beds. The picture is only slightly better across the rest of the country with most university cities and towns experiencing housing shortages.

This month, the Financial Times reported that the tenants in the UK spend an average of 30% of their gross income on renting; the figure is 31.7% in London. The 30% threshold is significant because at this level housing is deemed to be ‘unaffordable’.

Four million new homes will be needed in the UK by 2040, according to Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate consultants. Not everyone would be able to afford, or would want to buy one, so many more will be renting. As a result, the Private Rented Sector’s (PRS) share of all UK homes is expected to rise from 20% to 25%. To support this, rented supply needs to increase by 43%. Where will additional capacity come from?

The Portuguese real estate market is starting to see the effect of the ECB’s tightening cycle that began in 2022. Despite an 8.2% growth in the House Price Index last year, the volume of transactions in 2023 fell by 19%, to 136,000 vs. 167,900 the year before, according to the INE, the National Statistics Office.

Real estate in Cyprus proved resilient in 2023 despite higher rates and geopolitical instability. The total value of transactions remained at €5.5bn unchanged from a year before, following a large jump after the Ukraine war. Foreigners accounted for around 28% of the total volume of transactions.

As the dust settled on the British and French elections, Italy emerged as an attractive destination for global wealth. The country did it with sprezzatura, by offering a Special Tax Regime which is a flat tax rate of €100,000 for non-doms on income from abroad, rolling out an Inpatriates Regime – to attract returning Italian bankers – with a 50% discount on taxable income, and by continuing with investment or ‘golden visas.’ First introduced in 2017, these measures seem to be supported (for now) by the Italian political establishment despite political differences.