Housing tenures

Housing tenure refers to “the arrangements under which the household occupies all or part of a housing unit”. Different types of housing tenure can be distinguished, and the categorisation is mainly determined by whether the dwelling is owned by the household who occupies it or not:  Own outright: The household owns the dwelling and has no outstanding mortgage related to the dwelling.  Owner with mortgage: The household owns the dwelling but is currently paying off the mortgage.  Rent (private): The household rents the dwelling at market prices on the private rental market.  Rent (subsidised): The household rents the dwelling at reduced market prices, e.g. employersubsidised housing and accommodations where rent is fixed by law.  Other: Includes for European countries accommodation provided for free; for other countries it also includes other, non-descript types of housing. These are basic categories that can be identified across countries and are therefore useful for international comparison. Nevertheless, countries often use different or additional categories of housing tenures. These tenure categories are included in one or more of the above categories in the measures presented in this indicator, depending on the country context. For instance, social rental housing in most countries is included under subsidised rent, but in some cases it is classified as private rent due to data limitations. Furthermore, co-operative housing is in most cases grouped under owner-occupancy. Please refer to ‘data and comparability issues’ below for a more detailed discussion.