More Portuguese than Brits own their homes

More people in Spain live in apartments than anywhere else in Europe.

Conversely the country has the lowest percentage in Europe of people living in houses, according to a study by Eurostat.

Two out of every three Spaniards dwell in flats, perhaps due it the country’s high level of urbanisation contrasting to its large tracts of empty land.

While 45% of Portuguese are in flats, the majority of 55% live in houses.

But whether it is a flat or a house, 75% of Portuguese own their property, leaving the remaining 25% as tenants.

Most Spaniards also own but the percentage, 80%, is higher than neighbouring Portugal.

Both countries have higher concentration of home ownership than Britain where 65% are owners.

There were, in fact, more owners than tenants in every EU country in 2014. The greatest percentages of owners were found, perhaps ironically, in countries that had been part of the Soviet bloc, such as Romania, Slovakia, Lithuania, Croatia and Hungary.

But these were countries where the greatest amount of overcrowding was recorded, ranging from 30% to 50%. In Portugal, just 10% of the population was reported to be living in overcrowded households.

Across Europe, six out of ten inhabitants live in houses, with the highest concentration in the UK (85%), followed by Croatia, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Apartment-dwellers form the majority in Spain, Latvia, Lithuania and Greece.

Both the Portuguese and the Spanish said they were happy with their living conditions, rating them, on average, 7.3 out of 10.

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