I wouldn't consider the UK as a good example of affordable housing. First of all, compared to the rest of Europe houses are small - my parents have a house tha

I wouldn't consider the UK as a good example of affordable housing. First of all, compared to the rest of Europe houses are small - my parents have a house that's slightly larger than the average, it has 3 bedrooms in 90m2 including the garage. The housing stock - even new houses - are all pretty inefficient and need a lot of energy to heat. The rest of Europe has been pushing energy efficiency standards (in terms of heating demand), especially Scandanavia and the Baltic's, while the UK has pretty much stood still and builds houses today the same as they did 30 years ago. For this you are going to be paying a lot. Two people on average salaries would not be able to get a mortgage for my parents' house, and it's not anywhere near London or other big cities. And that's assuming you could earn an average salary - in their area that would be a bit of a push as most of the jobs are in the service and tourism industry.