Share of housing in household budgets in 2010: a heavier burden for private-sector tenants

One in two French households devoted over 18.5% of their income to their main residence in 2010. The figure includes rents, maintenance, taxes, loan repayments, and utilities (water and energy). The cost of housing weighs more heavily on low-income households, private-sector tenants, and home-buyers. One in five private-sector tenants spend more than 40% of their income on housing. In the past fifteen years, the total proportion spent on housing posted a mild increase, but the rise was steeper for low-income households and private-sector tenants. Despite the surge in real-estate prices, the growth in the share of home-buyers' spending on housing was moderate, notably because loan durations have lengthened and the profile of home-buyers is changing. Low-income households are finding it ever harder to purchase.