Definition: Housing unit (dwelling)

Category: Social statistics

The main content of the definition is that a housing unit used as the principal usual residence of at least one person, it is separate in the sense that persons living there can isolate themselves from other persons, it is independent in the sense that it can be accessed without passing through anybody else's accommodation. The concept of housing unit relates to the definition of living quarters as referred to in the UN/ECE and Eurostat recommendations. The variable 'housing unit' is included in the list of core variables as a tool to have a harmonised definition of private household, but does not carry any relevance independent of helping defining the household.