Housing Unit Definitions

Housing Unit.  A housing unit is a house, an apartment, a group of rooms, or a single room occupied or intended for occupancy as separate livingquarters.  Separate living quarters are those in which the occupants do not live and eat with other persons in the structure and which have direct access from the outside of the building or through a common hall. 

For vacant units, the criteria of separateness and direct access are applied to the intended occupants whenever possible.  If the informationcannot be obtained, the criteria are applied to the previous occupants.  Tents and boats are excluded if vacant, used for business, or used for extra sleeping space or vacations.  Vacant seasonal/migratory mobilehomes are included in the count of vacant seasonal/migratory housing units.  

Living quarters of the following types are excluded from the housing unit inventory:  dormitories, bunkhouses, and barracks; quarters in predominantly transient hotels, motels, and the like, except those occupied by persons who consider the hotel their usual place of residence; quarters in institutions, general hospitals, and military installations, except those occupied by staff members or resident employees who have separate living arrangements.  

Occupied Housing Units.  A housing unit is occupied if a person or group of persons is living in it at the time of the interview or if the occupants are only temporarily absent, as for example, on vacation.  The persons living in the unit must consider it their usual place of residence or have no usual place of residence elsewhere.  The count of occupied housing units is the same as the count of households.  

Householder.  The householder refers to the person (or one of the persons) in whose name the housing unit is owned or rented or, if there is no such person, any adult member, excluding roomers, boarders, or paid employees.  If the house is jointly owned by a married couple, either the husband or the wife may be listed first, thereby becoming the reference person, or householder, to whom the relationship of the other household members is recorded.  One person in each household is designated as the "householder." 

Vacant Housing Units.  A housing unit is vacant if no one is living in it at the time of the interview, unless its occupants are only temporarily absent.  In addition, a vacant unit may be one which is entirely occupied by persons who have a usual residence elsewhere.

New units not yet occupied are classified as vacant housing units if construction has reached a point where all exterior windows and doors are installed and final usable floors are in place.  Vacant units are excluded if they are exposed to the elements, that is, if the roof, walls, windows, or doors no longer protect the interior from the elements, or if there is positive evidence (such as a sign on the house or block) that the unit is to be demolished or is condemned.  Also excluded are quarters being used entirely for nonresidential purposes, such as a store or an office, or quarters used for the storage of business supplies or inventory, machinery, or agricultural products.

Vacant sleeping rooms in lodging houses, transient accommodations, barracks, and other quarters not defined as housing units are not included in the statistics in this report. (See section on "Housing Unit.")  

Year-round Vacant Units.  Beginning in 1990, year-round vacant mobile homes were included as part of the year-round vacant count of housing units.  Year-round units are those intended for occupancy at any time of the year, even though they may not be in use the year round.  In resort areas, a housing unit which is usually occupied on a year-round basis is considered a year-round unit.  As indicated above, year-round units temporarily occupied by persons with usual residence elsewhere are included with year-round vacant units.   

Year-round vacant units are classified in the following categories:    

• Vacant units for rent.  This group consists of vacant units offered for rent and those offered both for rent and sale.  
  

• Vacant units for sale only.  This group is limited to units for sale only; it excludes units both for rent and sale.  If a unit was located in a multi-unit structure which was for sale as an entire structure and if the unit was not for rent, it was reported as "held off market."  However, if the individual unit was intended to be occupied by the new owner, it was reported as "for sale." 
  

• Vacant units rented or sold.  This group consists of year-round vacant units which have been rented or sold but the new renters or owners have not moved in as of the day of interview.  
  

• Vacant units held off the market.  Included in this category are units held for occasional use, temporarily occupied by persons with usual residence elsewere, and vacant for other reasons.  These classifications are described below.  
  

• For occasional use.  If the vacant unit is not for-rent or for-sale-only but is held for weekends or occasional use thoughout the year, the unit is included in this catagory.  Time-shared units are classified in this category if the vacant unit is not for-rent or for-sale-only, but held for use for an individual during the time of interview.  
  

• Units Occupied by Persons with Usual Residence Elsewhere.  A housing unit which is occupied temporarily by persons who usually live elsewhere is interviewed as a vacant unit provided that a usual place of residence is held for the household which is not offered for rent or for sale.  For example, a beach cottage occupied at the time of the interview by a family which has a usual place of residence in the city is included in the count of vacant units.  Their house in the city would be reported "occupied" and would be included in the count of occupied units since the occupants are only temporarily absent.  Units occupied by persons with usual residence elsewhere (URE) are further classified as seasonal vacant or year round vacant units.  
  

• Other Vacant.  Included in this category are year-round units which were vacant for reasons other than those mentioned above:  For example, held for occupancy of a caretaker, janitor; held for settlement of an estate, or held for personal reasons of the owner.   
  

• Seasonal Vacant Units.  Seasonal housing units are those intended for occupancy only during certain seasons of the year and are found primarily in resort areas.  Housing units held for occupancy by migratory labor employed in farm work during the crop season are tabulated as seasonal.   
  

Vacancy and Homeownership Rates.  In this report several measures are shown for vacant housing units that are on the market for rent or for sale only.  Measures are also shown for homeownership rates.

Rental Vacancy Rate.  The rental vacancy rate is the proportion of the rental inventory which is vacant for rent.