Housing trends vary considerably across the OECD, in terms of tenure, affordability and quality, representing diverse historical contexts, household preferences and policy priorities across countries.
In most OECD countries, owning a home is much more common than renting. On average, 71% of households across the OECD either owned their dwelling outright or with a mortgage in 2022, compared to 24% of households who rented, either in the private rental market or as subsidised rental housing (Figure 6.13). A number of Central and Eastern European countries – including Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Slovak Republic and Poland – record a very high rate of homeownership, with over 70% of households owning their dwelling outright, a result of the historic sales of state‑owned housing in the 1990s. In 2022, owners with a mortgage outnumbered outright homeowners in Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States.
In contrast, just about 24% of households across the OECD rented their home on average in 2022. Only Switzerland and Germany are home to a majority of renters (62% and 55%, respectively), with Denmark, Austria and the Netherlands each recording more than 40% of households renting. Subsidised rental housing (social rental housing) is present in 31 OECD countries, yet the size of the social housing stock varies widely across countries. According to the 2023 OECD Questionnaire on Affordable and Social Housing, social housing plays a major role in the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and the United Kingdom, comprising more than 15% of the total housing stock (see indicator PH4.2 in the Affordable Housing Database).
Affordable housing is a challenge for many households across the OECD, but low-income dwellers face a significant housing cost burden. In eight OECD countries, more than 40% of low-income owners with a mortgage spent over 40% of their disposable income on a mortgage in 2022. The same was true for low-income renters in private rentals in 13 OECD countries (Figure 6.14). In nearly all OECD countries with available data, low-income tenants paying subsidised rent were less likely than tenants in the private market to spend over 40% of their disposable income on housing costs.
The importance placed by individuals on finding and maintaining adequate housing varies per age cohorts and across countries. On average across the OECD in 2022, 60% of individuals aged 18 to 29 reported to be somewhat concerned or very concerned by not being able to find and maintain adequate housing, whereas 49% of those aged 30 to 54 and only 38% of people aged 55 to 64 shared the same concern (Figure 6.15). In countries for which data are available, only in Estonia did people aged 30 to 54 worry more than those aged 18 to 29 about finding and maintaining adequate housing (47.45% to 46.5%). Similarly, in Türkiye, 73% of people between 55 and 64 shared this worry, whereas only 63% of people between 18 and 29 did.
