HOUSING COSTS OVER INCOME

Housing costs can represent a substantial financial burden to households, especially low-income households. The median of the ratio of housing costs over income gives an indication of the financial pressure that households face from housing costs. Another common measure of housing affordability presented in this indicator is the housing cost overburden rate, which measures the proportion of households or population that spend more than 40% of their disposable income on housing costs (in line with Eurostat methodology). For a discussion of different measures of housing affordability and their advantages and limits, please see indicator HC1.5 Overview of affordable housing indicators in the OECD Affordable Housing Database. For policy measures aiming to support households with housing costs, please see indicators in the PH2, PH3 and PH4 series. Housing costs can refer to: (1) a narrow definition based on rent and mortgage costs (principal repayment and mortgage interest); or (2) a wider definition that also includes the costs of mandatory services and charges, regular maintenance and repairs, taxes and utilities, which are referred to as “total housing costs” below. Housing costs are considered as a share of household disposable income, which includes social transfers (such as housing allowances) and excludes taxes. Income is equivalised for household size based on a common equivalence elasticity (the square root of household size) which implies that a household’s economic needs increase less than proportionally with its size. Housing costs refer to the primary residence. The data presented here are based on household survey microdata and concern national household or population level data.