Housing Survey

Summary

Strengths: An important strength of the data is that information of the Housing Survey is linked to objective features of the dwelling and broader living environment gathered by technical experts. Weaknesses: The survey is limited to households living in the Flemish Region. No similar surveys exist for the Brussels and Walloon Regions. Even though methodology, information, strengths and weaknesses are thoroughly documented, this information is, unfortunately, only available in Dutch, making collaboration with a Dutch speaking researcher essential.

Type of data

Data Source
Survey

Type of Study
Crosssection occasional

Data gathering method
Face-to-face
Other: The information gathered by the interviewers in the Housing Survey is linked to information gathered by technical experts of the Flemish administration on objective features of the dwelling and on the broader living environment using a standardised inspection form.

Access to data

Conditions of access
Data from the Housing Survey are available free of charge. Contact Kristof Heylen (see contact information).

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)
Anonymised microdata

Formats available
SAS, SPSS

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
The data were collected in 2005 and 2006. A random sample of households living in the Flemish Region was drawn from the Belgian National Register. In total, 5,212 households were interviewed. A substantial proportion of the head of households were over 50 years old: 2,691 were between 50 and 59; 1,726 between 60 and 69; 964 between 70 and 79; and finally, 287 head of households were older than 80.

First year of collection
2005

Stratification if applicable
Stratification by districts `arrondissementen`

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
Flanders, breakdown by provinces and districts

Age range
No age limitations apply

Statistical representativeness
Regional representative, please specify

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
The Housing Survey is the most important dataset in Belgium to study housing and urban development. Various aspects related to housing are surveyed: - characteristics of dwellings and living environment - housing expenditure - financing of housing - maintenance of dwelling - housing history - housing satisfaction - etc.

Linkage

Standardisation
The International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88) was used.

Possibility of linkage among databases
As the sample was drawn from the National Register, the (confidential) data contain the National Register number for each respondent. This could allow for a link to other national databases containing the National Register Number. However, such a link so far has not been made and it is unclear to what extent such linkage would be accepted by the Belgian Privacy Commission.

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
The data quality is of a very high quality for a social science survey. The technical experts reached 98% of the dwellings. The response rate of the survey was 67%. Weights were constructed to correct for non-response.

Breaks

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection

Governance

Contact information
Kristof Heylen
Research Institute for Work and Society – HIVA
Parkstraat 47 box 5300
3000 Leuven Belgium Phone: +32 0 16 32 31 12
Email: kristof.heylen(at)kuleuven.be
Url:

Timeliness, transparency
The first basic results were published in February 2007, i.e. after 1.5 years.