Maltese spend smallest share of income on housing costs

Maltese people spend the smallest share of income on housing within the European Union, according to new statistics published by Eurostat.

In Malta, the general population is estimated to spend around 9% of their disposable income on housing costs, according to 2021 data.

This is the lowest figure across the member states, with Malta followed by Cyprus and Lithuania, who respectively spend 11% and 12% of their disposable income on housing costs.

The highest shares of housing costs were seen in Greece, where nationals spend 34% of their income on housing costs, and Denmark, where people spend 26% of their disposable income on housing. The third highest share was found in Netherlands at 24%.

Almost across the board, people at risk of poverty spend a significantly higher share of their disposable income on housing: the lower one’s disposable income is, the higher the share of essential cost spending is going to be.

In Malta, people at risk of poverty spent 18% of their income on housing costs. In Cyprus and Lithuania this is 19% and 24% respectively.

For people living in Greece who are at risk of poverty, the share of disposable income spent on housing reaches a whopping 60%. In Denmark and Nethelands this figure stands at 57% and 48% respectively.

On average across the EU, the share of housing costs in disposable income was 19% in 2021. For people at risk of poverty, the share was 38%.

This data is part of the Housing in Europe publication, which provides data on housing, the construction sector, quality of housing and environmental impact.

Despite the low share of housing costs, Malta’s house prices have skyrocketed since 2010. Between 2010 and 2015 house prices in Malta remained below the EU average, but from 2015 onwards the pattern shifted and prices in Malta were higher than the EU average.

Only recently, in 2021 specifically, have local house prices fallen below the EU average. But rental prices paint a different picture: between 2010 and 2021 rental prices have for the most part remained above the EU average, and by a significant amount.

But Maltese people remain predominantly home-owners, with almost 82% of people in Malta owning the home they live in. And Maltese homes tend to be on the larger side of the EU average, at least in terms of number of rooms per person. In Malta, the average house has 2.3 rooms per person, marking the largest number recorded among Member States.

Malta is followed by Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands in this regard, which all have 2.1 rooms per person.

At the bottom end of the scale, Poland and Romania both have an average 1.1 rooms per person. Croatia, Latvia and Slovakia meanwhile have 1.2 rooms on average per person.

And with an average 2.4 persons per household, Malta also experienced the second-lowest overcrowding rate, meaning only 2.9% of the Maltese population were living in an overcrowded home.

The highest rate was experienced in Latvia, where 41.3% of the population in 2021 was living in an overcrowded home.

Instead, Malta has the highest share of under-occupied homes in the EU, with 71.8% of the population living in a home that is deemed too large for the needs of the household living in it.

Eurostat pointed out that a common cause of under-occupation is older people remaining in their home after their children have grown up and left.