Eurostat, European Commission, 2011
Access to good quality and affordable accommodation is a fundamental need and a right. But meeting this need is still a significant challenge in a number of European Union countries. Poor housing conditions point to a risk of poverty and social exclusion. In 2009, 6.0 % of the EU population suffered from severe housing deprivation (see methodological notes). The most frequent problems were noise from the neighbourhood (22.2 %), overcrowding (17.8 %) and pollution, grime or other environmental problems (16.5 %). In addition, 12.2 % of people in the EU lived in households affected by high housing costs.
