The reports by the Housing Agency and Amárach Research are divided into two separate reports.
Report 1 - Drivers of Residential Satisfaction and Aspirations in Ireland
Report 2 - Irish Residential Satisfaction
The main concern emerging from the data analysed is the issue of affordability and the high number of people, especially renters, experiencing difficulties meeting their monthly housing costs. Two-third of renters and one-third of those repaying a mortgage said they experienced difficult making payments each month. Other findings from the survey were as follows:
- 92% were either ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with their current home
- Homeowners are almost twice as likely to describe themselves as ‘very satisfied’ with their homes compared to renters
- Homeowners are also more likely to ‘strongly agree’ that they enjoy living in their home – 76% of homeowners compared with 60% of renters
- One in five report that shortage of space is an issue
- 16% of people surveyed find it difficult to cover the costs of maintaining their home
- 16% also find it difficult to keep their homes warm
- Neighbourhood satisfaction levels were high with 48% ‘very satisfied’ and a 43% ‘satisfied’ with the area they live
- Homeowners are more likely than renters to have positive experiences of neighbourhood services such as public transport.
- Geographically it was those living in rural neighbourhoods that were most satisfied with their neighbourhood
Satisfaction with your home plays a central role in happiness over the course of people’s lives. For greater accuracy in the survey factors taken into account included the house itself, the neighbourhood and whether the house suited the stage of life each respondent was at.
Speaking about the research David Silke, Director of Research said, “Every day we hear stories about housing issues. Stories about the supply of housing, the affordability of housing, the availability of land or long commutes. But we rarely stop to ask people what they think about their own housing situation, so we wanted to measure satisfaction levels across Ireland.
While satisfaction levels are mainly high, one significant concern coming from this research is affordability, especially for renters, and we need to continue to work to address this”.
