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Leuven is home to one of Europe’s most innovative universities with a combined student and research staff population of over 55,000, and several other world class research centres so a large share of local economic activities is concentrated around spin-offs from academic research. This has helped the city sustain a continued economic and population growth but, such rapid economic development does not come without challenges: the city has seen rising house prices and rents, with housing becoming inaccessible to an increasing number of people in lower and lower-middle income groups.