Home ownership makes you happier than renting

Happiness survey finds that a higher proportion of home owners are happy then those who rent

November 23, 2012 | post last updated on July 25th, 2016

Government figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that homeowners are happier than renters by a wide margin. 80 percent of owner occupiers report they are satisfied with their lives, compared with 68 percent of renters. By the same token 32 percent of renters have low levels of life satisfaction, compared with just 20 percent of homeowners.

This backs up the recent report by the HomeOwners Alliance “The Death of a Dream” which found that homeownership in the UK has fallen to the lowest level in 24 years. This slump in owner occupied properties has resulted in 1.4 million fewer homeowners than otherwise would have been the case. By 2016, that shortfall is estimated to jump to 2.4 million of unhappy people.