Tenure holder 2013 Census (information about this variable and its quality)

##Related variables

• Tenure of household – indicates whether a household owns or does not own the dwelling they live in, or has it in a family trust. Although tenure holder and tenure of household measure home ownership, they do so in quite different ways. Tenure of household relates to the ownership status of the household, while tenure holder refers to the ownership status of an individual. A household may own their dwelling but not all people within that household share in the ownership of that dwelling. For example, a young person aged 15 years who lived in a dwelling owned by their parents should write 'Not owned' to the tenure holder question because they did not own that dwelling themselves.

##Where the data comes from

Question 24 on the individual form.

##How this data is classified

1 Own or partly own usual residence

2 Do not own usual residence

7 Response unidentifiable

9 Not stated

For 2006 and 2013, the 'Own or partly own usual residence' category includes people who held their home in a family trust. This is different to the tenure of household classification, which classifies households whose dwelling is in a family trust separately from those who owned the home they lived in.

The purpose of this variable is to distinguish between situations involving ownership or something similar, and situations that are not at all like ownership, such as renting. Including people whose home was in a family trust in the owned category allows the data for this variable to be collected via one simple yes/no question.

The 'Do not own usual residence' category includes people who were renting, living in a home owned by other household members (eg parents), living in housing provided to them on a rent-free basis, or living in types of dwellings which they themselves would not own, such as a student hostel or a rest home.

For further information about this classification, refer to the 2013 Census data dictionary.

For background information on classifications and standards, refer to the Classifications and related statistical standards page.

##Subject population

The subject population for this variable is the census usually resident population aged 15 years and over.

The subject population is the people, families, households, or dwellings to whom the variable applies.

As this data relates to all people aged 15 years and over who were living in New Zealand, it includes those living in private dwellings (eg houses, units, and apartments) and those living in non-private dwellings (eg student hostels and rest homes).

##Non-response and data that could not be classified

Non-response

'Non-response' is when an individual gives no response at all to a census question that was relevant to them. The non-response rate is the percentage of the subject population that was coded to ‘Not stated’.

• Non-response rate for 2013: 5.4 percent, of which 4.2 percent were substitute records.
• Non-response rate for 2006: 6.2 percent, of which 3.4 percent were substitute records.
• Non-response rate for 2001: 6.2 percent, of which 2.4 percent were substitute records.

Not elsewhere included

Non-response and responses that could not be classified or did not provide the type of information asked for are usually grouped together and called 'Not elsewhere included'.

• 5.4 percent of the subject population was coded to 'Not elsewhere included' in 2013, compared with 6.2 percent in 2006, and 6.8 percent in 2001.

For more information on non-response and substitute records, refer to the 2013 Census data user guide.

##How this data is used

Data from this variable is used to:

• measure shifts in the approach taken by government to housing assistance and study the consequences of policy change
• analyse trends in home ownership by individual characteristics such as ethnicity and age
• formulate and monitor housing policy by central and local government.

##Data quality processes

All census data was checked thoroughly during processing and evaluation to ensure that it met quality standards and is suitable for use. These quality checks included edits.

All data must meet minimum quality standards to make it suitable for use.

Quality level

A quality level is assigned to all census variables: foremost, defining, or supplementary.

Tenure holder is a supplementary variable. Supplementary variables do not fit in directly with the main purpose of a census, but are still important to certain groups. These variables have third priority in terms of effort and resources.

Mode of collection impacts – online form compared with paper form

The online forms had built-in editing functionality that directed respondents to the appropriate questions and ensured that their responses were valid. As a result of this, data from online forms may be of higher overall quality than data from paper forms. There will always a mode effect but this cannot be measured. Statistics New Zealand designs and tests to minimise the effects of mode for all questions. The significance of the mode effect will depend on the particular type of analysis being done. There will always be a mode effect but this cannot be measured. Statistics NZ design and test to minimise the effects of mode for all questions.

There were differences between how the forms were completed online and on paper for this variable:

• On the online form, only people who gave a New Zealand address in question 5 and were 15 years of age or older were able to respond to the tenure holder question (question 24). On the paper form it was possible for overseas visitors or people younger than 15 years of age to respond to question 24.
• The online form allowed only one response to be selected for the tenure holder question. If a further response was selected, the response given previously disappeared. Multiple responses to this question were possible when forms were completed on paper.

##Quality assessment of data and data quality issues for this variable

Overall quality assessment

High: fit for use – with minor data quality issues only. 2013 Census variable quality rating scale gives more detail.

Issues to note

• Non-response rate for 2013: 5.4 percent, of which 4.2 percent were substitute records.
• Responses by people aged 15 to 19 years indicating that they owned or partly owned their usual residence are unlikely to be correct.
• If a person is a trustee of the trust they are considered to hold the dwelling in a family trust and should have answered 'Yes' for tenure holder. But if a person is a beneficiary only and not a trustee, they are not considered to hold the dwelling in a family trust and should have answered 'No' for tenure holder. Some respondents may not be aware of this as this information is not contained in the question or in guide notes.

For more information on non-response and substitute records, refer to the 2013 Census data user guide.

##Comparing this data with previous census data

This data is highly comparable with the 2006 Census data. Changes in the data over this time period can generally be interpreted as real changes. There may be a small component of change over time that is due to minor changes in the collection, definition, or classification of the data.

Data quality of 2013 Census data was improved by imputing a value for tenure holder in certain situations where this question had not been answered but other information indicated what the answer to the tenure holder question should have been (for example, for people living alone who had indicated their tenure of household). This may affect detailed analysis of changes over time as this was not done in previous censuses.

This data is broadly comparable with the 2001 Census data. Changes in the data over this time period may be partly due to changes in the collection, definition or classification of the data rather than to real change alone.

In 2006 and 2013 there was an instruction on the form to mark 'Yes' if the dwelling was held in a family trust. In 2001 there was no instruction (either on the form or in the help notes) about how people in this situation should answer the question. In 2001, some people whose home was in a family trust may have answered 'No' instead of 'Yes'. This may have resulted in the data showing a lower percentage for home ownership in 2001 than it would have shown if this instruction had been included.

##Comparing this data with data from other sources

No alternative data source.

##Further information about this data

All percentages in census publications have been calculated using 'Total stated' as the denominator.

When using this data, be aware of the following:

• It is difficult to compare tenure holder data with tenure of household data because tenure holder data is at the individual level and tenure of household is at the household level.

Contact our Information Centre for further information about using this variable.