Archive:Housing statistics
- Data from July 2010, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Database.
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.
This article takes a look at recent statistics on housing in the European Union (EU), focusing on dwelling types, tenure status (owning versus renting), housing quality and affordability.
,_2008_2010-08-23_171516.png)
Main statistical findings
,_2008_2010-08-23_171828.png)
,_2008_2010-09-17_135234.jpeg)
,_2008.jpeg)
,_2008.jpeg)
Type of dwelling
In 2008, 41.8 % of the EU population lived in flats, 34.2 % in detached houses and 22.7 % in semi-detached houses.
The share of persons living in flats was highest in Latvia (66.5 %), Estonia (65.2 %) and Spain (64.4 %). The percentage of people living in detached houses was largest in Slovenia (68.1 %), Hungary (65.4 %), Romania (59.7 %) and Denmark (59.0 %). The highest percentages of people living in semi-detached houses were reported in the Netherlands (62.0 %), the United Kingdom (60.5 %) and Ireland (55.4 %) (see: Graph 1)
Tenure status
In 2008, 73.6 % of the population in the EU owned their home of which 26.6 % had to pay mortgage. 12.5 % paid rent at market price and 13.9 % paid a reduced-rate rent or occupied free accommodation.
In all countries half or more than half of the population owned their dwelling. The figures ranged from 57.7 % in Austria to 96.5 % in Romania. Among the owners the highest proportion of those paying a mortgage was in Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and Iceland (55.6 %, 59.6 %, 61.5 % and 72.2 % respectively).
As for the persons paying a rent at market price figures did not exceed 10 % in 14 Member States and Iceland while in Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark more than 30 % of population was paying rent at market price. The share of the population paying a rent at reduced price or occupying an accommodation free of charge exceeded 15 % in only 7 countries: Cyprus, Finland, France, the United Kingdom, Malta, the Czech Republic and Poland (see Graph 2).
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 percentage of people living in a dwelling considered as overcrowded. Based on the number of rooms available to the household, this indicator depends on the household's size, as well as its members' ages and family situation.
In 2008, 18.2 % of the EU population lived in overcrowded dwellings. The highest percentages of persons living in overcrowded dwellings were registered in Latvia (58.1 %), Romania (56.5 %), Poland (50.8 %) and Lithuania (49.9 %). By contrast, Cyprus (1.2 %) and the Netherlands (1.7 %) recorded the lowest percentages. With a rate of 29.1 % in the EU the at-risk-of-poverty population (whose equivalised disposable income is below 60 % of national median equivalised disposable income) lived more often in overcrowded dwellings. The highest percentages of persons living in overcrowded dwellings among the at-risk-of-poverty population were registered in Poland (67.2 %), Hungary (65.9 %) and Romania (63.3 %), on the contrary less than 5 % in Cyprus and Malta. (see: Graph 3.)
In addition to overcrowding some aspects such as the lack of a bath or a toilet, a leaking roof in the dwelling or dwelling considered as too dark are taken into account to build a more complete indicator of housing quality. This indicator named ‘severe housing deprivation rate’ is defined as the share of persons living in a dwelling which is considered as overcrowded, while having at the same time also at least one of the housing deprivation measures (see Graph 4).
At EU level 6.6 % of the population suffered from severe housing deprivation. In Hungary, Latvia, Bulgaria and Romania more than 20 % of the population faced severe housing deprivation in 2008. By contrast, less then 1 % of the population in the Netherlands, Cyprus, Finland, Spain and Malta lived in conditions which could be qualified as 'severe housing deprivation'.
Housing affordability
In the EU in 2008, 12.4 % of citizens spent 40 % or more of their equivalised disposable income on housing. This average masks significant differences between Member States.
At one extreme there are countries with a small percentage of the population whose housing cost exceeds 40 % of their disposable income such as Cyprus (2.0 %) Ireland (3.3 %), Estonia (3.6 %), Luxembourg (3.7 %) and Malta (3.8 %).
At the other extreme, this share was 16.6 % in the United Kingdom and 18.9 % in Romania. The highest value was reached in Germany with 26.0 %. In almost all countries the percentages of the population whose housing costs exceeded 40 % of their equivalised disposable income were the highest for tenants paying market price (except Slovenia) and the lowest for owners without mortgage payments (see: Table 1.).
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.
Context
Questions of social housing, homelessness or integration play an important role within the 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 have the duty to 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 on the housing ladder, or how to promote energy efficiency among house owners.
Further Eurostat information
Publication
Main tables
- Data
- Main tables
- Income and living conditions (t_ilc)
- Living conditions (t_ilc_lv)
- Housing conditions (t_ilc_lvho)
- Living conditions (t_ilc_lv)
- Income and living conditions (t_ilc)
- Main tables
Database
- Living conditions (ilc_lv)
- Housing conditions (ilc_lvho)
- Distribution of population by degree of urbanisation, dwelling type and income group (Source: SILC) (ilc_lvho01)
- Distribution of population by tenure status, type of household and income group (Source: SILC) (ilc_lvho02)
- Average number of rooms per person by tenure status and dwelling type from 2003 (Source: SILC) (ilc_lvho03)
- Average number of rooms per person by tenure status and dwelling type until 2001 (Source: ECHP) (ilc_lvho03h)
- Average number of rooms per person by type of household and income group from 2003 (Source: SILC) (ilc_lvho04)
- Average number of rooms per person by type of household and income group until 2001 (Source: ECHP) (ilc_lvho04h)
- Overcrowding rate (ilc_lvho_or)
- Housing cost burden (ilc_lvho_hc)
- Housing conditions (ilc_lvho)
Dedicated section
Methodology / Metadata
Source data for tables, figures and maps on this page (MS Excel)
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