In the EU, 44.2 percent owned their dwellings outright, free from a mortgage or housing loan, whereas 24.3 percent were owners with a mortgage or loan. Concerning tenants, 21.1 percent of people in the EU paid market rent, and 10.5 percent lived in dwellings with rent at a reduced price or for free.
The highest percentages of people living in overcrowded households in 2024 were observed in Romania and Latvia while the lowest were in Cyprus, Malta and the Netherlands.
In 2024, 16.9 percent of people in the EU lived in overcrowded households. Overcrowding rates show above 30 percent were recorded in Romania (40.7 percent), Latvia (39.3 percent), Bulgaria (33.8 percent), Poland (33.7 percent) and Croatia (31.7 percent). By contrast, the lowest rates, below 5 percent, were observed in Cyprus (2.4 percent), Malta (4.4 percent), and the Netherlands (4.6 percent).
The share of people living in households unable to keep their home warm decreased in the majority of EU countries in 2024 compared with 2023.
In 2024, 9.2 percent of people in the EU lived in households unable to afford to keep their home adequately warm. Among EU countries, the lowest rates were observed in Finland (2.7 percent), Slovenia and Poland (both at 3.3 percent). By contrast, the highest rates were recorded in Bulgaria and Greece (both at 19 percent).
Compared with 2023, the percentage of people in the EU living in households unable to keep their homes adequately warm decreased by 1.4 percentage points (pp), going from 10.6 percent to 9.2 percent in 2024.
Among EU countries, five recorded an increase in the percentage of people unable to keep their homes adequately warm between 2023 and 2024. The highest increases were observed in Luxembourg (+1.5 pp), Malta (+1 pp), and Slovakia (+0.2 pp).
Conversely, 21 EU countries reported a decrease during the same period. The largest decreases were recorded in Portugal (-5.1 pp), Spain (-3.3 pp), and Cyprus and Denmark (both -2.5 pp). The Netherlands was the only country where the situation remained stable, with the same percentage (7.1 percent) recorded both in 2023 and 2024.
