In Milan, the salary is no longer enough: up to 60% for housing and transport

The gap between income and the cost of housing in Milan is widening more and more, short-term rentals are increasing exponentially (considering the various types, such as transient rentals) and an average salary is no longer enough to live in Milan. This is the merciless picture of the country's economic capital, highlighted by the third Oca (affordable housing observatory) report, produced by Politecnico di Milano, Ccl and Lum. Evidently, the dynamics in Milan are similar to those in other European capitals and beyond. However, elsewhere, emphasises Massimo Bricocoli, professor of Urban Planning at the Politecnico, 'policies have begun to be implemented to reverse the trend'. Examples in hand: Paris, Barcelona and New York are reflecting on the distortion of a market that sees houses as a financial asset and no longer a place to live. "This is the main problem, the one that really drives up costs. Milan could intervene as other municipalities have done, although it is certainly a reflection to be made together with that of the powers that the metropolitan city could have in the future and does not yet have," insists Bricocoli. Alessandro Maggioni, president of the Consortium of Workers' Cooperatives of Milan, adds: "Without a housing policy, cities die, and with them the economic fabric. If groups of workers are pushed out of the city, there will be no more services either'.

Great debated topic. In Milan, the answer has often been: the solution is to go and live in the hinterland. But the report shows that even the hinterland now has prices that are unattainable for low and medium salaries "due to the wrong policy on agreed rents made in past years", say Bricocoli and Maggioni, and that commuting adds costs to bear.

Let's take a look at the numbers, referring to 2024 in the research but reflecting a still current trend. Prices for buying and selling real estate in 2024 grew by 8.5 per cent compared to the previous year; rents increased by 6.5 per cent, but average salaries only increased by 4.2 per cent, below inflation. For low and middle income earners the growth is even smaller, at 3.7 per cent; for office workers it is 2.7 per cent. The problem is that all these groups account for 85 per cent of the city's private employees. A clear sign that Milan is not a city for working people, the report points out.

It is also worth noting that in five years, from 2020 to 2024, the share of long-term rentals rises from 66 per cent to 51 per cent, while that of temporary rentals (transients, students and short lets) rises from 34 to 49 per cent. Single-family purchases are also on the rise, a sign that housing has become a form of investment.

To make a flat 'affordable', the rent should not exceed 30% of the salary, considering that average gross salaries range from EUR 1,542 to EUR 2,700 per month for office workers.