More than a quarter of homes in the UK are owned outright by their occupiers, while almost another four in 10 are owned with the help of a mortgage or loan.

Almost a quarter - 22.5% - qualify as social housing, while 8% are privately rented.

THE KEY FACTS
Household numbers falling 30% homes with two cars 1.5m households overcrowded 1% London homes without toilet

By far the highest proportion of social housing exists in Scotland, where more than a quarter of all homes are owned by either a council or housing association.

The most popular type of home in the UK is semi-detached (more than 27% of all homes), closely followed by detached then terraced.

Just over a fifth of all homes are flats or bedsits - but this figure varies dramatically between the nations.

In Scotland, a third of all homes are in purpose built blocks of flats or tenements, compared with just over 7% of all homes in Northern Ireland.

As would be expected, some of the UK's large cities have the highest proportion of flats and bedsits - 70% in Glasgow, 69% in inner London and 60% in Edinburgh.

Northern Ireland has the largest number of detached homes and bungalows - more than a third fall into this category.