Having access to quality affordable housing is important to reduce poverty risks, improve equality of opportunity and make growth inclusive and sustainable. Housing trends vary considerably across the OECD, in terms of tenure, affordability, and quality, representing diverse historical contexts, household preferences, and policy priorities across countries.

In most OECD countries, owning a home is much more common than renting. On average, nearly 70% of households across the OECD either owned their dwelling outright or with a mortgage in 2016, compared to 26% of households who rented a dwelling, either in the private rental market or as subsidized rental housing (Figure 6.13). A number of Eastern European countries – including the Slovak Republic, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia and Poland – record a very high rate of homeownership, with over 70% of households owning their dwelling outright, a result of the historic sales of state-owned housing in the 1990s. In 2016, owners with a mortgage outnumbered outright homeowners in Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, and the United States.