Almost two out of three Norwegians live in a detached house. 78 per cent of the households own the dwelling they live in. And – the dwellings have more rooms: On average there are four rooms per dwelling.
Preliminary figures from the Population and Housing Census 2001 show that there are 1,955,000 occupied dwellings in Norway per 3 November 2001. This is an increase of more than 200,000 from 1990 and an increase of 430,000 compared to 1980. 56 per cent of the dwellings are detached houses, whereas 18 per cent are dwellings in apartment buildings, block of flats etc.
64 per cent of the occupants in private households live in detached houses, whereas 13 per cent live in apartment buildings, block of flats etc. The portion of block occupants is highest among the young adults, 20- 29 years, and the oldest, 80 years and more, and lowest among persons less than 20 years old.
Of the ones who live in a detached house 84 per cent own the dwelling themselves. The portion of homeowners is smallest among the ones who live alone, and largest among households that consist of couples with older children, the youngest between 6 and 17 years. Households who own the dwelling are on the whole larger than the households who rent their dwellings. In households who own their dwellings an average of 2.5 persons reside there, while in households who rent their dwellings the average is 1.7 persons.
The portion of owned dwellings has on a nation-wide level remained stable from 1990. In Oslo, however, in 1990 one out of four households lived in a dwelling theyrented, whereas in 2001 a one out of three household rents the dwelling.
Three out of four households where the oldest person is 24 years of age or younger, are renting their dwellings.
Close to 70 per cent of the population in Norway live in dwellings that are built after 1960.
From 1990 to 2001 more dwellings have five rooms or more. Oslo has the highest portion of 1-2 room dwellings, 37 per cent. The county Sogn and Fjordane has the most dwellings with six rooms or more, 36 per cent. In all the other counties the portion of dwellings with four rooms is the largest. On average the number of rooms per dwelling has risen from 3.6 in 1980 to 4.1 in 2001. 13 per cent of the dwellings in Oslo and Akershus have a living area of less than 50 square metres, whereas the average for the country is about eight per cent.
83 per cent of the occupants in Norway live in dwellings where wheelchair users cannot get in by themselves. The best conditions for these persons exist in dwellings where the occupants are 80 years or older, but here as well the conditions are not the best. In 78 per cent of the dwellings the wheelchair users can not get in by themselves.
93 per cent use electricity
93 per cent use electricity as an energy source to heat their dwellings, 60 per cent use solid fuel and 21 per cent use liquid fuel. Oslo does not follow the average since there are fewer using solid fuel and more that use alternative energy sources.
For more information please contact: paul.inge severeide@ssb.no, telephone +47 62 88 52 90, coen.hendriks@ssb.no, telephone +47 62 88 52 498, or even.hoydahl@ssb.no, telephone +47 62 88 51 48.
