DWELLING TENURE AND CHARACTERISTICS
This information was listed under 'Housing' in the Australian Health Survey: Users' Guide, 2011-13 (cat. no. 4363.0.55.001).
Definition
This topic refers to dwelling in which respondents were enumerated, in most cases, usual place of residence, and collects the following:
- Tenure type of household
- Landlord type
- Dwelling location
- Dwelling structure
- Number of bedrooms
It also collects:
- Whether have fixed landline or mobile phones
- Whether the landline and/or the mobile number is in the White Pages.
Population
Information was obtained for all
persons aged 18 years and over in the 2014-15 NHS who were either answering for themself or were relaying answers to the proxy.
Methodology
Data from all dwelling tenure and characteristics questions are presented on the household level on the data file.
Tenure type of household
Respondents were asked on behalf of themselves, their spouse/partner, or parent (if the respondent was an adult child living with a parent), whether the dwelling was:
- Owned or partly owned
- Being paid off (mortgage or secured loan)
- Being rented
- Being purchased under a shared equity scheme
- Being occupied under a life tenure scheme
- Being occupied rent free.
Landlord Type
Those who reported the tenure type was rental were also asked who the landlord is/who rent was paid to (shown on a prompt card):
- Real estate agent
- State or territory housing authority
Person not in the same household:
- Parent/Other relative
- Other person
- Owner/Manager of caravan park
Employer:
- Government employer
- Other employer
Other:
- Housing co-operative, Community or Church group
- Other.
Dwelling location
'Dwelling location' refers to where the dwelling was situated, as recorded by the interviewer. Information was recorded against the following categories:
- Caravan park
- Marina
- Manufactured home estate
- Accommodation for the retired or aged (self care)
- Other (including residential dwelling blocks or farms).
Dwelling structure
'Dwelling structure' refers to the structure in which the household resides, as recorded by interviewers and based on their observations at the time of the interview. Information was recorded against the following categories:
- Separate house
- Semi-detached/row or terrace house/town house:
- one storey
- two or more storeys
- Flat or apartment:
- in a one or 2 storey block
- in a three storey block
- in a four or more storey block
- attached to a house
- Other dwelling:
- Caravan, cabin, houseboat
- Improvised home, tent, campers out
- House or flat attached to shop or office, etc.
Number of bedrooms
Respondents were asked to report the number of bedrooms in the dwelling. The item refers to the number of rooms on the dwelling plans as bedrooms, even though they may be currently used for other purposes.
Landline and mobile phones
Respondents were asked whether they had a fixed landline telephone and/or mobile phone connected to their dwelling and whether the landline and/or mobile phone was listed in the White Pages
.
Data items
The questionnaire
, data items and related output categories for this topic are available in pdf/Excel spreadsheet format from the
Downloads page of this product.
Interpretation
Points to be considered in interpreting data for this topic include the following:
- The approach used in the survey relies on the selected adult's knowledge of tenure and/or rental details of the dwelling. This may have been more difficult if the respondent was an adult child living with a parent, or in the case of a group house situation.
- Some respondents may not have been aware of the designated usage of rooms specified in building plans, and may have reported other rooms currently used as bedrooms.
Comparability with 2011-12
Dwelling Tenure and Characteristics/Housing data is considered broadly comparable between the 2014-15
and 2011-12 NHS.
However, there are some differences between the 2011-12 and 2014-15 NHS, and they are as follows:
- Housing tenure was only collected in 2014-15 NHS when the selected adult respondent either answered for themself or relayed their answers to the Proxy. In the 2011-12 NHS, housing tenure was collected from the selected adult respondent or via Proxy regardless of whether the respondent was present in the case of a Proxy interview.
- Changes were made to the 'Dwelling Tenure' module collected in the 2014-15 NHS to reflect changes to the ABS Dwelling Tenure standard, resulted in the following:
- Removal of the reference to 'rent/buy scheme' (as this term is not currently used in practice and could lead to mis-reporting) so that the question read "Is this dwelling being purchased under a shared equity scheme by you/anyone in this household?" and a change in sequencing so that those who answered 'yes' to this question were not asked the 'Landlord Type' question as they do not have a landlord in practice. Care should be taken when making comparisons between the 2014-15 NHS 'Shared equity scheme' item and 2011-12 NHS 'Rent/buy or shared equity scheme' item as they are not comparable.
- A change in sequencing in the 2014-15 NHS, so that those who reported occupying the dwelling rent free were also asked the 'Landlord type' question, to cover the fact that those living rent free do have a landlord. Care should be taken when making comparisons between the 2014-15 NHS and 2011-12 NHS 'Landlord Type' item as they are not comparable.
Information about whether households had a mobile phone and whether it was listed in the White Pages are new items collected in the 2014-15 NHS and so are not comparable with the 2011-12 NHS.
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