Albanians in second place in Europe as homeowners

According to Eurostat data, published by Euronews Business, 94.8% of Albanians lived in their homes in 2021 and the rest rented.

This figure is much higher than the European average, where an average of 70% have their own homes. In Europe, North Macedonia (96.3%) exceeds us.

But, although they are owners, there is no space in Albanian families, while the individual does not even have a room available.

The average number of rooms for an individual is 0.9, the lowest in Europe, along with Montenegro, out of 1.6 that is the average European Union. Little space, though they own and neighbours in northern Macedonia with one room per individual.

Switzerland and Germany have high rent rates, with more than half their population renting homes. Conversely, Balkan countries show higher housing ownership rates, though many homes are crowded.

The housing crisis is a growing concern throughout Europe, characterized by shortages and increased rents. Approximately 70% of EU residents own their homes, while the rest, 30%, rent them. About 17% of the EU population lives in housing overcrowding conditions.

In Europe, the landscape of residences is diverse, with a considerable divide between homeowners and tenants. In eight of the 36 European countries, more than 90% of the population lived in their homes in 2022, according to Eurostat.

Over half of the population rents to Germany, Switzerland

In Germany, the percentage of tenants exceeded 50% in 2022, making it the only country among EU countries. Switzerland, based on data from the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the UK and candidate countries, had the highest percentage of tenants, with 57.7%.

Home ownership is highest in Balkan countries

Northern Macedonia, Albania and Romania are established with property rates above 95%. With the exception of Turkey, the property rate was the highest in Balkan countries -- a trend extending to Hungary, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro.

By contrast, countries such as Austria, Turkey, Denmark, France, Sweden and Great Britain fall below the average EU home ownership rate of 69.1%.

Spain and Italy had the highest rates, with three out of four residents living in their homes.

Public policies and rented social residences

European countries have implemented various policy measures to ensure affordable housing. These include housing subsidies, rented social residences and rent regulations.

On average, social dwellings make up 8% of the total stock of EU residences, according to the Organisation for Co-operation and Economic Development (O) report. ECD for affordable housing. This refers to rented residences offered at lower prices than the market, and divided according to specific rules and not according to market mechanisms.

The Netherlands, Austria and Denmark have most of their social residences, making up more than 20% of their total housing stock.

The United Kingdom, France, Ireland, Iceland and Finland have moderate social housing sectors, ranging from 10% to 19%.

The sector is relatively small in Switzerland (.8%) and Germany (2.7%), where over half of the population are tenants.

The quality of residences is critical. O The ECD points out that overcrowded homes, where many members of households live on a kifised surface, negatively affect health, especially for children. The average number of rooms per person, and overcrowding rates, are key indicators of housing quality.

In 2022, the average number of rooms per person in the EU was 1.6, ranging from 2.3 rooms in Malta to 1.1 rooms in Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

The average room per person was the lowest in the candidate countries in the Balkans, conglomerating at the highest population rates. Despite high levels of ownership in Balkan countries, overcrowding remains a problem in these regions.

At least half the population in Montenegro, Albania and Serbia lives in crowded homes. The population rate was 16.8% in the EU.

Among the EU countries, the highest population rates were observed in Latvia (41.7%), Romania (40.5%) and Bulgaria (36.2%), while the lowest were in Cyprus (2.2%), Malta (2.8%) and the Netherlands (2.9%). /Albinfo