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This analysis by CDP highlights how housing affordability has become a crisis in many European countries: in 2023, approximately 9% of the EU population spent more than 40% of their income on housing costs. Between 2019 and 2023, housing prices in the European Union rose by 23% and rents by 8%, while real wages fell by 3%, widening the gap between incomes and housing costs. In Italy, an estimated 1.2 million households are experiencing housing hardship, particularly among renters, young people, and low-income workers: nearly 30% of renting households are struggling, compared to less than 6% of those with mortgages; 12.4% of those under 34 spend more than 30% of their income on housing, compared to 3.2% of those over 65. Italy also has a rental housing rate of 13.1% (compared to about 30% in France and over 50% in Germany), and only 2.4% of the housing stock is rent-controlled, compared to the EU average of 8%, 14% in France, and 34.1% in the Netherlands.

This is the context for service housing, defined as the provision of rent-controlled rental housing for workers on mobility programs in areas with high housing pressure and strong labor demand. The report constructs a Worker Housing Needs Index (IFAL), on a scale of 0–100, based on two factors: the ratio of rent to wages (averaging 35%, above the critical threshold of 30%, and exceeding 40% for young people; in Rome and Milan over 60%) and the ratio of planned hires to unemployed individuals, which measures the demand for labor from outside the province. Fifteen provinces with high labor demand emerge, concentrated mainly in Northern and Central Italy, accounting for over one-third of the national demand for workers and generating more than one-third of GDP; five provinces alone account for over 20% of projected hiring. No province in the South, with the exception of Bari, is among those with the highest demand. The mismatch between labor supply and demand is set to widen, partly due to demographic decline and graduate mobility: between 2019 and 2023, nearly 90,000 Italian graduates emigrated, compared to approximately 77,000 incoming foreign graduates.

The development of service housing in Italy is still in its infancy and hampered by urban planning and administrative constraints, fragmented governance, the absence of a recognized asset class, and a lack of targeted incentives. CDP emphasizes the need for a structured and scalable model, drawing inspiration from certain European initiatives such as the UK’s “Key Worker Living” program or the French Action Logement model, funded through a mandatory contribution of 0.45% of the payroll of companies with more than 10 employees. To ensure economic and financial sustainability and replicability, the report highlights the crucial role of institutional investors with patient capital, through real estate funds, funds of funds, and public-private partnerships, as well as the involvement of public entities and businesses. The development of hybrid housing solutions, targeting different categories of workers and featuring varied contractual terms, can increase the flexibility and effectiveness of these initiatives, helping to support mobility, regional competitiveness, and economic growth.