Many Europeans are taking on hefty mortgages to cover housing costs. For some, such loans require cutting back on daily purchases — but what gets trimmed first?
Around 75% of Europeans were forced to cut their spending to meet mortgage payments in 2025. This reflects the average across the 23 countries included in the most recent European Housing Trends Report, published by RE/MAX Europe.
When mortgage owners need to reduce or stop spending to afford loan payments, preferences as to what gets cut vary across countries. Most cut back on going out, luxury items, and holidays.
Across the 23 countries studied, roughly 25% of mortgage owners “haven’t ever had to cut back, find alternatives, or stop buying things in order to afford their mortgage”, according to the RE/MAX’S European Housing Trends Report 2025.
This rate ranges from 7% in Malta and Romania to 44% in the Netherlands, indicating that almost half of mortgage owners in the Netherlands are comfortable paying their loans. Lithuania (42%), the UK (37%), and Switzerland (36%) are other countries where mortgage payers feel comparatively better.
The share of mortgage owners who did not need to reduce their spending to keep up with payments is below 15% in several countries, showing that a large majority have struggled to afford their mortgage. These countries included Malta, Romania, Hungary, Ireland, Turkey, Slovenia, Greece, Croatia, and Italy.
Among Europe’s five largest economies, the UK (37%) shows the strongest result, clearly above the average of 25%. It is followed by Germany and Spain (22% each), France (21%), and Italy (14%).
What gets cut first?
On average, mortgage owners first sacrifice going out, including date nights and trips to cinema, festivals, clubs, and pubs. 41% of all mortgage owners said they had decided not to go out at least once to save money for their payments.
If the calculation were limited to those who said they struggled to pay their mortgage, the share who stopped going out would rise to 55%.
Luxury consumable items such as premium food, alcohol, and high-end toiletries come second, with 38% of all mortgage owners cutting back or stopping these purchases. Holidays closely follow in third place.
Almost three in ten (29%) cut back or stopped buying clothes and shoes at least once. Other sacrifices include electronics, subscription services, hobby items, sports goods, classes, and gym subscriptions, as well as everyday items like food and basic toiletries.
People’s choices about what to reduce or stop buying to afford their mortgage payments differ widely across countries.
For example, in Greece, Hungary, Romania, and Turkey, mortgage owners tend to cut down on essential items early because of high pressure on household budgets. In contrast, mortgage owners in the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Lithuania, and Luxembourg make milder and more selective reductions, often avoiding cutbacks that would majorly impact their lives.
Mortgage is transparent, problem is energy costs
Luca Bertalot, secretary general of the European Mortgage Federation, noted that there is an important political debate underway on housing and mortgage affordability.
He explained that some markets rely heavily on fixed-rate mortgages and others tend to offer variable rates, where the interest fluctuates each month. “This is linked also to the nature of the financial infrastructure of the country,” he told Euronews Business.
“In Germany or now in Spain, there is a tendency to use more fixed-rate mortgages,” he added.
Even so, Bertalot argued that when it comes to unaffordability, the core issue isn't the type of mortgage, because borrowers chose whether to take on variable rates or not. He stated that mortgage owners can make their own assessments as the system is transparent. “For me, where is the risk? The energy cost (on the other hand) is something that the family cannot control,” he said.
