Over two thirds of Cypriots live in homes they own

Around 70 per cent of Europeans lived in homes they owned in 2020 while the rest lived in rented housing, according to a Eurostat study published on Thursday.

The numbers for Cyprus, 68.6 per cent, were very close to the European average of 69.7 per cent.

The other 31.4 per cent of Cypriots lived in rented accommodation, close to the European average of 30.3 per cent.

The highest rate of home ownership was recorded in Romania, where 96.1 per cent of the population lived in homes they owned, followed by 92.3 per cent in Slovakia, and 91.3 per cent in Croatia and Hungary.

While owning was most common across the EU, in Germany it was observed that half of the population lived in housing they owned and the other half in a rented home.

Home ownership rates were also low in Austria (55 per cent) and Denmark (59 per cent).