EU: One Person In Six Lives In An Overcrowded Dwelling

In the EU27, housing conditions differ considerably between Member States. These differences can be seen both in the type of housing in which people live and in the housing problems they encounter. On average in the EU27 in 2009, 42% of the population lived in a flat, 34% in a detached house and 23% in a semi-detached or terraced house. Of the EU27 population, 18% lived in an overcrowded dwelling, while 16% lived in a dwelling where a leaking roof or damp were perceived as a problem, 7% considered their dwelling to be too dark, 4% had no indoor flushing toilet and 3% no bath or shower.

These figures on housing conditions are published in a report from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Across the Member States, flats most common in Latvia, detached houses in Slovenia and semi-detached houses in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

The type of dwelling in which people live varies greatly between Member States: in twelve Member States, detached houses are the most common type of dwelling, in ten flats and in five semi-detached or terraced houses.

In 2009, over half of the population lived in flats in Latvia (66%), Estonia and Spain (both 65%), Lithuania (58%), Greece (56%), the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy (all 53%), in detached houses in Slovenia (69%), Hungary (68%), Romania (61%), Denmark (58%) and Sweden (51%), and in semi-detached or terraced houses in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (both 61%) as well as Ireland (58%).

Between 1% of the population in Cyprus and 58% in Latvia live in an overcrowded dwelling

Overcrowding depends upon the relation between the number of persons in a household and the number of rooms in each dwelling. In 2009, the share of persons living in an overcrowded dwelling ranged widely between Member States, from 1% in Cyprus, 2% in the Netherlands, 3% in Spain and 4% in Ireland, Belgium and Malta to 58% in Latvia, 55% in Romania and Hungary, 49% in Poland and Lithuania and 47% in Bulgaria.

One person in six lives in a dwelling where a leaking roof or damp is a problem

Housing conditions can also be analysed through the problems of damp, darkness or the availability of sanitary equipment. The proportion of the population living in a dwelling where they declared there was a problem with a leaking roof or damp in the walls ranged from 5% in Finland, 7% in Slovakia and Sweden and 8% in Denmark to 31% in Slovenia, 29% in Cyprus, 26% in Latvia and 24% in Bulgaria.

The share of the population living in a dwelling where darkness was considered to be a problem varied from 4% in Slovakia, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Finland to 16% in Slovenia, 11% in Latvia and the United Kingdom.

There were significant differences between Member States when considering the sanitary equipment of dwellings. The share of persons living in dwellings with no indoor flushing toilet ranged from less than 1% in 15 Member States to 43% in Romania, 26% in Bulgaria and 17% in Lithuania and Latvia. The proportion of the population living in dwellings with no bath or shower ranged from less than 1% in 17 Member States to 41% in Romania, 18% in Latvia and 16% in Lithuania and Bulgaria.