Definition: Housing census

Demography

The housing census is defined as the operation that produces at regular intervals the official counting (or benchmark) of all housing stock and their occupants in the territory of a country and in its smallest geographical sub-territories together with information on a selected number of characteristics of housing. This operation includes the process of collecting (through enumeration or registered-based information) and aggregating information related to housing, and the evaluation, dissemination and analysis of data related to the living quarters and their occupants. The census must provide information on the stock of housing units together with information on the structural characteristics and facilities that have a bearing upon the maintenance of privacy and health and the development of normal family living conditions.