Cramped but owned: 31% of Poles live in overcrowded homes
Polish homes are cheap to run but cramped and expensive to buy, according to a comparison of Eurostat data across the European Union.
Key facts
- 31% of Poles live in overcrowded housing, against an EU average of about 17%.
- Poles have 1.2 rooms per person, compared with 1.7 in the EU.
- 87% of Poles live in a home they own, and 75% have no mortgage, the fourth-highest share in the EU.
- Only 4.1% of residents spend more than 40% of their income on housing, against 11.2% in Germany and 23.4% in Denmark.
- Home prices rose by about 88% between Q1 2019 and Q1 2026, the fifth-fastest increase in the EU.
What it means
- 51% of Poles aged 25–34 still live with their parents, the fourth-highest share in the EU.
Source: Eurostat, Bankier.pl (4 Oct 2026)