The Housing Dimension of Welfare Reform - the ICCR

The summary statistics indicate that in more than 75 per cent of
households in Denmark, Ireland, Austria and Germany there is hardly an
affordability problem with reference to the rent-to-income ratio. For
these households it is unlikely that rent increases would have any major
impact on subjective affordability and housing integration. On the other
hand, in Italy we find 19 per cent of owner households having
affordability problems even when housing cost is marginal. These
households will hardly benefit from measures which purely reduce
housing cost but their situation can only be improved by a higher and
stable income which guards against indebtedness.
The main potential beneficiaries of rent control or housing allowances
would be in Italy and Belgium where the cost burden of at least two
thirds of renters is determined by their rent-to-income ratio. Policy
responsiveness would even be higher among owners in these countries,
as their cost burden depends mostly on the income share spent on
mortgage repayments.
Quality of housing
Quality of housing is a function of the availability of standard housing
facilities (bath or shower, flushing toilet, hot running water), the
condition of the dwelling (leaky roof, dampness, rot in windows or
frames) and environmental problems associated with location. However
satisfaction with housing is influenced also by indicators not related to
housing as such, like the health of the resident or the extent of social
contacts.
Overall, it appears that housing satisfaction depends far less on the
quality of the accommodation than might have been expected. The
different dimensions of housing deprivation are significantly variable in
their association with satisfaction with housing, with bad condition being
the most striking aspect of inadequate housing quality. For the less
important domains even a relatively high intensity of deprivation does
not imply low satisfaction with housing. Housing satisfaction is not
exclusively determined by quality criteria but subject to a variety of
determinants which relate to lifestyles and preferences as well as general
satisfaction and social aspects of housing integration. An improvement of
housing satisfaction would hence require carefully customised measures
for a very broad range of needs.
Size of accommodation
Important with regard to size is the size of the household. The threshold
for one-person household is 1 in all countries except Austria where it is
2; for two-person households it is either 1 (in Belgium and Italy) or 2 (in
EUROHOME-IMPACT FINAL REPORT 33