Cyprus tops EU for spacious homes, as 70% live with extra rooms
Source: in-cyprus.com
Cyprus has the most spacious housing in the European Union, with 70 per cent of residents living in homes with more rooms than they need, according to new data from Eurostat.
The island also recorded the EU’s lowest overcrowding rate at just 2 per cent, in stark contrast to countries like Romania, where 41 per cent of the population lives in overcrowded conditions.
Eurostat published its Housing in Europe 2025 edition on Thursday, presenting detailed data on housing conditions across the EU, from homeownership rates to dwelling sizes, housing quality and price changes.
Cyprus ranks amongst the five countries with the highest homeownership rates, with 74.1 per cent of residents living in their own house or flat and just 25 per cent in rented accommodation.
This significantly exceeds the EU average, where 68 per cent are homeowners and 32 per cent renters.
Romania leads the EU with 94 per cent homeownership, followed by Slovakia at 93 per cent, Hungary at 92 per cent and Croatia at 91 per cent.
Germany is the only country where the majority—53 per cent—live in rented housing, followed by Austria at 46 per cent and Denmark at 39 per cent.
Across the EU in 2024, 51 per cent lived in detached houses, 48 per cent in flats and 1 per cent in other forms of housing such as mobile homes.
Ireland recorded the highest rate of house-dwelling at 90 per cent, followed by the Netherlands and Belgium at 77 per cent and Croatia at 76 per cent. In contrast, flats dominate in Spain at 65 per cent, Latvia at 64 per cent and Malta at 63 per cent.
EU homes average 1.7 rooms per person, with Malta topping the rankings at 2.2 rooms per person, followed by Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands at 2.1. Slovakia and Romania recorded the lowest at 1.1 rooms per person, with Poland and Latvia at 1.2.
The average number of people per household in the EU stands at 2.3, peaking in Slovakia at 3.1 and Poland at 2.9, whilst Germany, Denmark and Sweden recorded the lowest at 2.0.
Overcrowding affected 17 per cent of the EU population in 2024, down from 19 per cent in 2010. Romania had the highest overcrowding rate at 41 per cent, followed by Latvia at 39 per cent and Bulgaria at 34 per cent.
Cyprus, Malta and the Netherlands recorded the lowest rates at 2 per cent, 4 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.
Under-occupation—living in homes with more space than needed—is particularly pronounced in Cyprus, where 70 per cent of residents live in dwellings larger than required, the highest rate in the EU.
Ireland follows at 67 per cent and Malta at 64 per cent. Romania recorded the lowest under-occupation rate at 7 per cent, followed by Latvia at 10 per cent and Greece at 13 per cent.
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