Rent takes nearly half a salary in Brescia as the middle class struggles

In Brescia, rent absorbs nearly half of the average salary. A CNA report puts the figure at 43%, exposing the squeeze facing households that earn too much for public housing but too little to comfortably afford the private market.

The gap is stark against the standard used for public housing. The Lombardy region considers a rent sustainable when it does not exceed 25% of household income. That limit applies to public housing services, but not to ordinary private leases, where landlords and tenants negotiate freely. Economists generally use a 25% to 30% share of net pay as a benchmark.

Affordable supply is scarce. A search on Immobiliare.it found fewer than 40 three-bedroom apartments, meaning homes with two bedrooms, available in Brescia for up to 1,000 euros a month. Yet Openpolis calculations based on Istat data show that more than 13,000 homes in the city are unoccupied, out of a total of 105,000. The article says some need renovation, some are reserved for short-term rentals and others have passed to banks while awaiting auction.

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too rich for public housing, too poor to spend more than a thousand euros

That leaves many middle-class households caught between two systems. They can be considered too wealthy for public housing, but too poor to pay more than 1,000 euros in rent. The city offers incentives for agreed rents through a reduced flat tax and lower property taxes, but rents continue to climb.

Between 2019 and 2025, rents rose 32% in Brescia, compared with 49% in Milan, while salaries did not increase at the same pace. Requested sale prices also rose 4% year on year to 2,313 euros per square meter in July. Milan recorded a 2.2% increase, although its average price exceeded 5,600 euros per square meter.

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cannot in any case be higher than 25%