HOUSING LOAN REPAYMENTS
JUSTIFICATION
Data on housing loan repayments are important for policy-making and planning for housing, and for studying housing conditions of sub-populations of specific interest. The Census is the only source of this data for small areas and small population groups.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
A question on mortgage was asked for the first time in the 1976 Census. The question was simplified for the 1981 Census to ask only whether there was a mortgage and the monthly payments on the total mortgage on the dwelling. Since the 1986 Census, the question has asked the monthly payment being made on the loan(s) for the dwelling.
Due to the emergence of rent-buy schemes and strong user demand for actual amounts rather than range data, a new approach of collecting actual amounts paid for the dwelling was taken in the 1996 Census. Type of tenure responses were used to determine whether payments were recorded as rent or loan repayments.
For the 2006 Census, the order of questions was changed to ask the tenure type question before the housing loan repayments/rent and landlord type questions. Sequencing from the tenure type question directed only those respondents who indicated they either had a mortgage or were renting a dwelling to answer the housing loan repayments/rent and landlord type questions.
USER REQUIREMENTS
Users require data on housing loan repayments, cross-classified by household characteristics to:
- measure access to home ownership
- provide benchmark data for evaluation of housing needs, housing finance and housing demand.
Housing loan repayment data are used in conjunction with income data to assess household and family disposable income.
Regional and small area data are required.
AVAILABILITY OF NON-CENSUS DATA
Data on housing loan repayments are available from the Survey of Income and Housing 2005-06, results released in:
Because of small sample sizes, surveys cannot provide small area data.
POSSIBLE CHANGES FOR 2011
Data from the 2006 Census will be examined to investigate the impact of incorrect responses, including non-response, for households with reverse mortgages. For the 2011 Census, instructions will be added to clarify that responses are required for households with reverse mortgages, and the type of response required.
2006 CENSUS QUESTIONS
(Household form only)
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