Most other european countries have a lower percentage of owner/occupiers.
It seems that social stigma against renting does not arise when the ratio of renting/owning is about 50/50.
In some ways owning can be a handicap because it makes it more difficult to move to where work is more readily available.
http://www.ebst.dk/file/2256/housing...stics_2003.pdf
page 42 shows a map of europe indicating the levels of owner/occupancy in countries