Homeownership Norms and Housing Satisfaction across Europe: A Cross-National Multilevel Analysis

Byambasuren Dorjnyambuu , TÁRKI, Social Research Institute, Budapest
Márton Medgyesi, TÁRKI Social Research Institute

Homeownership is both an economic asset and a socially valued status marker, shaping life trajectories and subjective well-being. While prior research links housing satisfaction to tenure, few studies examine how homeownership norms – socially shared expectations about owning – vary across contexts and influence well-being. This study investigates the impact of contextual homeownership norms on housing satisfaction across Europe, using EU-SILC ad hoc housing modules from 2007, 2012, and 2023, covering 26–27 countries. By linking EU-SILC microdata to contextual indicators, including housing market variables from the new DECIPHE contextual database, we examine how reference-group ownership prevalence, housing market conditions, and socioeconomic status jointly shape subjective well-being. Reference-group homeownership prevalence serves as a proxy for normative pressure, and multilevel ordered logit models account for individual, group, and national-level variation. Preliminary findings suggest that renters report lower housing satisfaction in high-ownership contexts, reflecting the social pressures of nonconformity, whereas in tenure-neutral or rental-friendly countries, these effects are weaker or reversed. Strong ownership norms are expected to amplify well-being disparities between owners and renters, particularly under tight housing markets and among lower-SES groups. This study offers the first cross-national, multilevel assessment of homeownership norms, elucidates mechanisms linking norms, tenure, and satisfaction, and provides policy-relevant insights for reducing housing inequality and social exclusion. By integrating social, economic, and institutional dimensions, the research advances understanding of how normative and structural factors jointly shape housing satisfaction across diverse European contexts.

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 Presented in Session 110. Geography, Environment and the Role of Place in Health