The construction research network Euroconstruct is forecasting 1.781m completed homes in Europe for the current year. As such, the forecast presented at the most recent Euroconstruct conference in London on 17 and 18 November is lower than the projections of 1.831m new homes made at the preceding conference in Warsaw. 1.753m completions are expected in 2024 in contrast to the 1.847m forecasted previously. In spite of an increase to 1.780m units in 2025, the number will still fall slightly short of this year’s figure.
The adjustments have been made for the 15 western as well as the four eastern European countries. The most pronounced downward adjustments were made in the forecasts for 2023 and 2024 for the UK by around 50,000 completions in each case. Lower numbers of completions than previously are also anticipated for Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and Spain. Stable development or growth is only forecasted for Finland, France, Ireland, and Italy. The forecast previously given for Germany for 2023 was validated, and a downward adjustment was made for 2024 (-5,000 to 300,000 units). The original forecasts for Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Hungary were adjusted upwards whereas fewer completions than predicted at the preceding event are meanwhile expected in Poland.
In Europe, after growth of around 3% in each of the years of 2021 and 2022, residential building activity is going to decline both this year and next. In spite of a minor increase, building activity in 2025 is likely to remain below the 2023 level.
