Archive:Housing statistics

Data from August 2012, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

This article provides an overview of recent statistics on housing in the European Union (EU) and the EFTA countries, focusing on dwelling types, tenure status (owning versus renting), housing quality and affordability.

Decent housing, at an affordable price in a safe environment, is a fundamental need and right. Ensuring this need, which is likely to alleviate poverty and social exclusion, is still a significant challenge in a number of European countries.

Figure 1: Distribution of population by dwelling type, 2010
(% of population) - Source: Eurostat (ilc_lvho01)

Figure 2: Distribution of population by tenure status, 2010 (1)
(% of population) - Source: Eurostat (ilc_lvho02)

Figure 3: Overcrowding rate, 2010
(% of specified population) - Source: Eurostat (ilc_lvho05a)

Figure 4: Severe housing deprivation, 2010
(% of population) - Source: Eurostat (ilc_mdho06a)

Table 1: Housing cost overburden rate by tenure status, 2010
(% of population) - Source: Eurostat (ilc_lvho07c) and and ilc_lvho07c/default/table?lang=en (ilc_lvho07a and ilc_lvho07c)

Main statistical findings

Type of dwelling

In 2010, 41.8 % of the EU-27 population lived in flats, 34.4 % in detached houses and 23.0 % in semi-detached houses. The share of persons living in flats was highest in Latvia (65.4 %), Estonia and Spain (both 64.5 %). The share of people living in detached houses peaked in Slovenia (67.3 %), Hungary (64.5 %), Romania (61 %) and Denmark (59.2 %); Norway and Croatia also reported high shares (62.4 % and 72.9 % respectively) of persons living in detached houses. The highest propensity to live in semi-detached houses was reported in the Netherlands (60.7 %), the United Kingdom (60.3 %) and Ireland (58.3 %) – see Figure 1.

Tenure status

In 2010, over one quarter (27.9 %) of the EU-27 population lived in an owner-occupied home for which there was an outstanding loan or mortgage, while somewhat less than half (42.9 %) of the population lived in an owner-occupied home without a loan or mortgage. As such, a total of close to two thirds (70.8 %) of the population lived in owner-occupied dwellings, while 17.8 % lived in dwellings with a market price rent, and 11.4 % in reduced-rent or free accommodation.

More than half of the population in each EU Member State (see Figure 2) lived in owner-occupied dwellings in 2010; the share ranged from 53.2 % in Germany to 97.5 % in Romania. In Switzerland, people living in rented dwellings outweigh those living in owner-occupied dwellings (55.7 % of the population are tenants). In Sweden (68 %), the Netherlands (59.5 %) and Denmark (52.7 %) more than half of the population lived in owner-occupied dwellings with an outstanding loan or mortgage; this was also the case in Iceland (67.6 %) and Norway (61.1 %).

The share of persons living in rented dwellings with a market price rent in 2010 was less than 10 % in 12 EU Member States, as well as in Croatia. In Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Luxembourg and Austria more than one quarter of the population lived in rented dwellings with a market price rent. The share of the population living in a dwelling with a reduced price rent or occupying a dwelling free of charge was less than 20 % in all Member States.

Housing quality

One of the key dimensions in assessing the quality of housing conditions is the availability of sufficient space in the dwelling. The overcrowding rate describes the proportion of people living in an overcrowded dwelling, as defined by the number of rooms available to the household, the household’s size, as well as its members’ ages and family situation.

In 2010, 17.6 % of the EU-27 population lived in overcrowded dwellings (see Figure 3); the highest overcrowding rates were registered in Latvia (57.1 %), Romania (54.9 %), Poland (47.5 %), Bulgaria (47.4 %), Hungary (47.2 %) and Lithuania (46.4 %). A similar share was seen in Croatia (44.4 %). By contrast, the Netherlands (2 %) and Cyprus (2.8 %) recorded the lowest rates of overcrowding.

Within the population at-risk-of-poverty (in other words, people living in households where equivalised disposable income per person was below 60 % of the national median), the overcrowding rate in the EU-27 was 29.4 % in 2010, some 11.8 percentage points above the rate for the whole population. The highest overcrowding rates among the population at-risk-of-poverty were registered in Hungary (69.7 %), Latvia (67.6 %), Poland (65.6 %) and Romania (65.2 %), while the overcrowding rate for those at-risk-of-poverty was below 7 % (see Figure 3) in the Netherlands (4.5 %), Cyprus (5.9 %), Malta (6.0 %), Ireland and Spain (both 6.8 %).

In addition to overcrowding, some other aspects of housing deprivation – such as the lack of a bath or a toilet, a leaking roof in the dwelling, or a dwelling considered as being too dark – are taken into account to build a more complete indicator of housing quality. The severe housing deprivation rate is defined as the proportion of persons living in a dwelling which is considered as being overcrowded, while having at the same time at least one of these aforementioned housing deprivation measures.

Across the EU-27 as a whole, 5.7 % of the population suffered from severe housing deprivation in 2010 (see Figure 4). In Latvia, Hungary and Slovenia more than 15 % of the population faced severe housing deprivation in 2010, rising to a high of 26.9 % in Romania. By contrast, less than 1 % of the population in Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands lived in conditions which would qualify as severe housing deprivation.

Housing affordability

In 2010, 10 % of the EU-27 population lived in households that spent 40 % or more of their equivalised disposable income on housing (see Table 2). The proportion of the population whose housing costs exceeded 40 % of their equivalised disposable income was highest for tenants with market price rents (26.3 %) and lowest for persons in owner-occupied dwellings without a loan or mortgage (6.0 %).

The EU-27 average masks significant differences between Member States: at one extreme there were a number of Member States where a relatively small proportion of the population lived in households where housing costs exceeded 40 % of their disposable income, notably Cyprus (2.5 %), Malta (3.3 %), Finland and Portugal (both 4.2 %) and Slovenia (4.3 %). At the other extreme, around one fifth of the population in Denmark (21.9 %) and Greece (18.1 %) spent more than 40 % of their equivalised disposable income on housing, followed by the United Kingdom (16.5 %) and Romania (15 %).

Data sources and availability

The data used in this section are primarily derived from micro-data from EU statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC). The reference population is all private households and their current members residing in the territory of the Member State at the time of data collection; persons living in collective households and in institutions are generally excluded from the target population. The EU-27 aggregate is a population-weighted average of individual national figures.

Context

Questions of social housing, homelessness or integration play an important role within the EU’s social policy agenda. The charter of fundamental rights stipulates in Article II-94 that ‘in order to combat social exclusion and poverty, the Union recognises and respects the right to social and housing assistance so as to ensure a decent existence for all those who lack sufficient resources, in accordance with Community law and national laws and practices’.

However, the EU does not have any responsibilities in respect of housing; rather, national governments develop their own housing policies. Many countries face similar challenges: for example, how to renew housing stocks, how to plan and combat urban sprawl, how to promote sustainable development, how to help young and disadvantage groups to get onto the housing market, or how to promote energy efficiency among house owners.

Further Eurostat information

Publication

Housing conditions in Europe in 2009 - Statistics in focus 4/2011
Employment and Social Developments in Europe 2011
Income and living conditions in Europe – Statistical books
The social situation in the European Union 2009 – Statistical books
51 million young EU adults lived with their parent(s) in 2008 - Statistics in focus 50/2010
Combating poverty and social exclusion

Main tables

Income and living conditions (t_ilc), see:

Income distribution and monetary poverty (t_ilc_ip)

Living conditions (t_ilc_lv)

Database

Income and living conditions (ilc), see:

Living conditions (ilc_lv)

Material deprivation (ilc_md)

Other information

Regulation 1177/2003 of 16 June 2003 concerning Community statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC)
Regulation 1553/2005 of 7 September 2005 amending Regulation 1177/2003 concerning Community statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC)
Regulation 1791/2006 of 20 November 2006 adapting certain Regulations and Decisions in the fields of ... statistics, ..., by reason of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania

Archive:Housing statistics

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