6525.0 - Experimental Estimates of Imputed Rent, Australia, 2013-14  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 16/12/2015   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All

GLOSSARY

Assets

        An entity of a financial or non-financial nature, owned by the household or its members, and from which economic benefits may be derived by holding or use over a period of time.
Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS)
Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) Balance of State
        Under the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC), Balance of State represents each state or territory not defined as Capital City.
Body corporate fees
        Compulsory payments to the governing body of a block of home units or apartments. The governing body consists of home unit owners or their representatives.
Capital city
        Capital city under the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) refers to Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (GCCSAs) as defined in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 1 - Main Structure and Greater Capital City Statistical Areas, July 2011 (cat. no. 1270.0.55.001). For the Australian Capital Territory, the estimates relate predominantly to urban areas. All of the Australian Capital Territory is defined as capital city for this publication.

        Capital city under the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) refers to Australia's six State capital city Statistical Divisions and the Darwin Statistical Division as defined in the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC) (cat. no. 1216.0). For the Australian Capital Territory the estimates relate predominantly to urban areas, and all of the Australian Capital Territory is defined as a capital city for this publication. Capital city estimates for the Northern Territory are not available on the CURF.

Collection District Consumer Price Index (CPI)
        A general measure of price inflation for the household sector in Australia. Specifically, it provides a measure of changes, over time, in the cost of a constant basket of goods and services acquired by capital city households in Australia.
Disposable income
        Gross income less income tax, the Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge i.e. remaining income after taxes are deducted, which is available to support consumption and/or saving. Income tax, Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge are imputed based on each person's income and other characteristics as reported in the survey. Disposable income is sometimes referred to as net income.
Dwelling
        Defined as a suite of rooms contained within a building which are self-contained and intended for long-term residential use. To be self-contained the suite of rooms must possess cooking and bathing facilities as building fixtures. Examples of types of dwelling include: separate house; semi-detached, row or terrace house or townhouse; flat, unit, or apartment; and other dwelling, including caravan, cabin, houseboat, and house or flat attached to a shop.
Dwelling structure
        The dwelling structure type is determined by the structure of the building that contains the dwelling. Households belong to one of four dwelling categories:
          • separate house
          • semi-detached, row or terrace house or townhouse
          • flat, unit, or apartment and
          • other dwelling, including caravan or cabin in a caravan park, houseboat in a marina, caravan not in a caravan park, houseboat not in a marina and house or flat attached to a shop
Equivalised disposable household income
        Disposable household income adjusted using an equivalence scale. For a lone person household it is equal to disposable household income. For a household comprising more than one person, it is an indicator of the disposable household income that would need to be received by a lone person household to enjoy the same level of economic wellbeing as the household in question. For more information on the process of equivalisation, see the Survey of Income and Housing, User Guide, Australia, 2013 - 14 (cat. no. 6553.0).
Flat, unit or apartment
        Includes all self-contained dwellings in blocks of flats, units or apartments. These dwellings do not have their own private grounds and usually share a common entrance foyer or stairwell. This category includes houses converted into flats and flats attached to houses such as granny flats. A house with a granny flat attached is regarded as a separate house.
Gross imputed rent
        The estimated market rent that a dwelling would attract if it were to be commercially rented.
Gross income
        Income from all sources, whether monetary or in kind, before income tax, the Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge are deducted.
Gross private income
        Current receipts from private organisations and other households, including wages and salaries, income from own business, superannuation, workers' compensation, income from annuities, interest, dividends, royalties, income from rental properties, scholarships and child support.
Household
        A person living alone or a group of related or unrelated people who usually live in the same private dwelling.
Housing costs
        Housing costs for the purposes of calculating net imputed rent for owner-occupiers in this study comprise:
          • rates payments (general and water)
          • body corporate fees
          • the interest component of mortgage and unsecured loan repayments, where the loan was obtained for the purposes of purchasing or building
          • rent payments
          • house insurance costs
          • repair and maintenance costs.
Income
        Income consists of all current receipts, whether monetary or in kind, that are received by the household or by individual members of the household, and which are available for, or intended to support, current consumption. Income includes receipts from:
          • wages and salaries and other receipts from employment (whether from an employer or own incorporated enterprise), including income provided as part of salary sacrificed and/or salary package arrangements
          • profit/loss from own unincorporated business (including partnerships)
          • net investment income (interest, rent, dividends, royalties)
          • government pensions and allowances (includes pensions and allowances from Commonwealth and State and Territory governments as well as pensions from overseas)
          • private transfers (e.g. superannuation, workers' compensation, income from annuities, child support, and financial support received from family members not living in the same household).
        Gross income is the sum of the income from all these sources before income tax, the Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge are deducted. Other measures of income are Disposable income and Equivalised disposable household income.

        Note that child support and other transfers from other households are not deducted from the incomes of the households making the transfers.

Landlord type
        For renters, the type of entity to whom rent is paid or with whom the tenure contract or arrangement is made. Renters are classified to one of the following categories:
          • state/territory housing authority-where the household pays rent to a state or territory housing authority or trust
          • private landlords-where the household pays rent to a real estate agent or to another person not in the same household
          • person in the same household-where the unit pays rent to a person who resides in the same household
          • other-where the household pays rent to the owner/manager of a caravan park, an employer (including a government authority), a housing cooperative, a community or church group, or any other body not included elsewhere.
Life tenure scheme
        A lease arrangement in which the tenant has the right to occupy the dwelling for an indefinite or unspecified period.
Market rent
        The rent that a dwelling would attract if it was commercially rented.
Market renter
        For the purpose of this study, a market renter is a household that rents its dwelling from a real-estate agent, an unrelated person not living in the same household, or the owner/manager of a caravan park.
Mortgage
        A mortgage is a loan taken out using the usual residence as security. An owner with a mortgage must still owe money from such a loan.
Net imputed rent
        Gross imputed rent less housing costs. Net imputed rent is an estimate of the value of housing services that households receive from home ownership or by households paying subsidised rent or occupying their dwelling rent free. Housing costs for the purpose of calculating net imputed rent for owner-occupiers comprise:
          • rates payments (general and water)
          • body corporate fees
          • the interest component of repayments of loans that were obtained for the purposes of purchasing or building
          • rent payments
          • house insurance costs
          • repair and maintenance costs.
Net worth
        Net worth is the value of a household's assets less the value of its liabilities. Net worth may be negative when household liabilities exceed household assets.
Owner (of dwelling)
        A household in which at least one member owns the dwelling in which the household members usually reside. Owners are divided into two classifications - owners without a mortgage and owners with a mortgage. If there is any outstanding mortgage or loan secured against the dwelling the household is an owner with a mortgage. If there is no mortgage or loan secured against the dwelling the household is an owner without a mortgage.
Owner-occupied dwelling
        A dwelling usually inhabited by its owner.
Public renter
        A household paying rent to a state or territory housing authority/trust.
Quintiles
        Groupings that result from ranking all households or people in the population in ascending order according to some characteristic such as their household income and then dividing the population into five equal groups, each comprising 20% of the estimated population.
Rent-free
        Rent-free is a tenure arrangement where the unit (i.e. household, income unit or person) exchanges no money for lodging and is not an owner of the dwelling.
Renter
        A household that pays rent to reside in the dwelling. See 'Landlord type' for further classification.
Salary sacrifice
        An arrangement under which an employee agrees contractually to forgo part of their remuneration, which the employee would otherwise receive as wages and salaries, in return for the employer or someone associated with the employer providing benefits of a similar value.
State/territory housing authority
        A state/territory government authority which, under the Housing Assistance Act 1996 (Cwlth) and in accordance with a Commonwealth-State Housing Agreement, is charged with the provision of housing assistance.
Statistical Area Level 1
        Statistical Areas Level 1 (SA1s) have been designed as the smallest unit for the release of Census data. SA1s generally have a population of 200 to 800 persons, and an average population of about 400 persons. They are built from whole Mesh Blocks and there are approximately 55,000 SA1s covering the whole of Australia.
Subsidised renter
        A household renting its dwelling for less than it would be expected to pay in a commercial market. For the purpose of this study, subsidised renters are those households renting from a parent or other relative not living in the same household, an employer, or a housing cooperative or community/church group. However, some households in these categories were judged to be paying commercial rents; net imputed rent for such households was zero.
Tenure type
        The nature of a household's legal right to occupy the dwelling in which the household members usually reside. Tenure is determined according to whether the household owns the dwelling outright, owns the dwelling but has a mortgage or loan secured against it, is paying rent to live in the dwelling, or has some other arrangement to occupy the dwelling.
Wealth
        See Net worth.