Cyprus has lowest home overcrowding rate in EU

Cyprus is the EU country where the fewest people live in overcrowded homes, while many live in dwellings considered too large for them, Eurostat announced on Tuesday.

In 2019, almost three quarters of the population were living in under-occupied dwellings in three EU member states, Malta (72.6 per cent), Cyprus (70.5 per cent) and Ireland (69.6 per cent).

In Spain (55.4 per cent), Luxembourg (54.0 per cent), Belgium (53.9 per cent) and the Netherlands (53.4 per cent) more than half of the population were living in dwellings deemed too large.

In contrast, less than 15 per cent of the population were living in dwellings deemed under-occupied in Romania (7.7 per cent), Latvia (9.6 per cent), Greece (10.7 per cent), Bulgaria (11.5 per cent), Croatia (12.0 per cent), Slovakia (14.0 per cent) and Italy (14.2 per cent).

“An under-occupied dwelling is a dwelling deemed to be too large for the needs of the household living in it, in terms of excess rooms and more specifically bedrooms,” Eurostat clarified.

In the European Union, 17.2 per cent of the population were living in overcrowded households in 2019, meaning they did not have enough rooms compared to the size of the household.

Among the EU member states, almost half the population in Romania (45.8 per cent) were living in overcrowded households in 2019. This was also the case for around two in every five persons in Latvia (42.2 per cent), Bulgaria (41.1 per cent), Croatia (38.5 per cent) and Poland (37.6 per cent).

At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest overcrowding rates were recorded in Cyprus (2.2 per cent), Ireland (3.2 per cent), Malta (3.7 per cent) and the Netherlands (4.8 per cent).

The research was carried out considering overcrowding in times of the  coronavirus pandemic.

“Overcrowded households can feel even smaller with kids playing in the same room as parents trying to telework during the coronavirus lockdown. Moreover, overcrowded environments can present a higher risk of spreading the virus,” Eurostat commented.