Resource context and source
This resource is a Eurostat “Statistics Explained” article published by the European Commission. It presents EU-wide evidence on housing conditions using EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU‑SILC), with figures for EU Member States and, where available, EFTA and candidate countries. The page explains how core indicators are defined (overcrowding, inability to keep homes warm, housing cost overburden, and dwelling satisfaction), and frames affordable and sustainable housing as a priority in the Commission’s 2024–2029 political guidelines.
Tenure patterns across the EU
In 2023, 69.2% of people in the EU lived in owner-occupied dwellings, while 30.8% lived in rented accommodation. Among owners, 44.2% owned their homes outright (without a mortgage or housing loan) and 24.9% were owners with a mortgage or loan. Among tenants, 20.6% paid market rent and 10.2% lived with rent at a reduced price or for free, highlighting the continued importance of regulated and supported rental segments for affordability.
Overcrowding as a structural housing challenge
The article reports that 16.8% of people in the EU lived in overcrowded households in 2023 (headline figure also reported as 16%). Overcrowding rates above 30% were observed in several countries, including Latvia (40.9%), Romania (40.0%), Bulgaria (34.9%), Poland (33.9%), Croatia (31.3%) and Slovakia (30.5%). At the other end of the distribution, very low overcrowding rates (below 6%) were recorded in Cyprus (2.2%), Malta (2.4%), the Netherlands (3.8%), Ireland (3.9%) and Belgium (5.7%).
Energy poverty and the ability to keep homes warm
In 2023, 10.6% of people in the EU lived in households unable to afford keeping their home adequately warm, up from 9.3% in 2022 (an increase of 1.3 percentage points). The lowest shares were in Luxembourg (2.1%), Finland (2.6%) and Slovenia (3.6%), while the highest were in Portugal and Spain (both 20.8%), Bulgaria (20.7%) and Lithuania (20.0%). Between 2022 and 2023, 19 EU countries recorded increases, with the largest rises in Spain (+3.7 pp), Portugal (+3.3 pp) and Czechia (+3.2 pp).
Housing cost overburden and affordability pressures
Housing affordability is tracked via the share of people living in households that spend 40% or more of disposable income on housing costs. In 2023 this applied to 8.8% of the EU population. Greece recorded the highest housing cost overburden rate (28.5%), followed by Denmark (15.4%) and Germany (13.0%); several other countries also exceeded 9.5% (including Sweden, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Germany). The lowest rates were observed in Cyprus (2.6%) and Slovenia (3.7%), illustrating wide cross-country differences in the intensity of affordability stress.
Satisfaction gaps linked to poverty risk
In 2023, 83.7% of people at risk of poverty reported being satisfied or highly satisfied with their dwelling, compared with 91.2% among those not at risk of poverty (an EU average gap of 7.5 pp). For the at-risk group, the highest satisfaction rates were in Malta (94.3%), Slovenia (92.7%) and Luxembourg (92.2%), while the lowest were in Hungary (67.4%), Austria (77.1%) and Slovakia (77.5%). The largest satisfaction gaps between the two groups were recorded in Slovakia (14.9 pp), Hungary (14.5 pp) and Austria (13.4 pp), while Malta and Luxembourg showed negative gaps, meaning at-risk people were as satisfied or more satisfied than those not at risk.
Definitions, coverage, and policy relevance
The indicators are derived from EU‑SILC, an annual survey covering private households (generally excluding people living in institutions). Overcrowding is defined by insufficient rooms given household size, composition and age structure; inability to keep a home warm is explicitly an affordability measure; and housing costs include utilities and other occupancy costs (with owner costs including mortgage interest and certain charges). The article situates these metrics in the context of the European Commission’s stated focus on increasing affordable housing supply, improving energy efficiency in buildings, and supporting vulnerable groups, linking housing quality, affordability, and energy performance to social cohesion and sustainability.