ABSTRACT
Housing censuses have been carried out under UN auspices in 152 countries and have yielded a wealth of data on the quality of housing in each country, particularly with reference to minimum standards of what may be described as habitability. The censuses dealt with new homes built per 1,000 inhabitants, tenure, that is, whether the homes are rented or owned, the number of persons per room and the number of rooms per house. The size of a dwelling in terms of the number of rooms has an important bearing not only on levels of rooms but also on construction costs. A primary indicator of public health and sanitation is the extent to which dwellings, especially in urban areas, are equipped with or connected to satisfactory areas means of disposing human waste.
