There is an idea in our society that in European countries many people do not own their own homes and they prefer to live in rental housing. There is some truth to this idea.
For example, according to Eurostat data for 2024, 53% of the population in Germany, 46% in Austria, and 39% in Denmark live in rental housing.
However, in other countries, especially post-socialist countries, this indicator is lower. In countries such as Romania (94%), Slovakia (93%), Hungary (92%), and Croatia (91%), the population prefers to own the home they live in.
On average, about 2/3 (68%) of the population in European Union countries own individual homes.
There are several reasons why rental housing rates are high in some countries. These include the high price of homes, the inability of people wishing to obtain mortgage loans to pay the initial down payment, long-term rental agreements, the difficulty of evicting tenants at any time, and the desire to live close to workplaces in big cities.
Samir Aliyev,
economist
