Housing quality improves as more Jamaicans live in better homes, survey finds
Loading article...
More Jamaicans are living in safe and habitable homes, with homeownership also on the rise, according to the latest Survey of Living Conditions.
The island’s Housing Quality Index (HQI), which measures the physical condition, livability, and sustainability of dwellings, rose to 80.5 per cent in the 2023 survey conducted by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) and the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ).
The HQI was estimated at 75 per cent in the previous survey in 2017.
Compared with 2017, all six component indicators—electricity for lighting, exclusive use of kitchen, exclusive use of water closet, indoor tap/pipe as the main source of drinking water, and the number of persons per habitable room—showed improvement.
The largest increase was seen in the proportion of households that were not overcrowded, which improved by 11.5 percentage points to 74.2 per cent.
Exclusive use of a kitchen moved up marginally by 1.9 percentage points to 96.0 per cent.
However, rural areas, with an HQI of 75.0 per cent, continued to lag behind the Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area and other urban centres, which recorded 87.4 per cent and 81.7 per cent, respectively.
Furthermore, the proportion of households with “registered full ownership” increased by 4.0 percentage points to 34.7 per cent, compared with 2021.
This reflects an improvement in the number of households that own both their dwelling and the land on which it stands, and that possess a registered title for the property.
Additionally, the survey found that an estimated 78.0 per cent of all households used safe water as their main source of drinking water.
The majority of households (53.6 per cent) relied on indoor tap/pipe for drinking water; however, this was more prevalent in the Greater Kingston Metropolitan Area and other urban centres.
- Sashana Small
Follow The Gleaner on X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram @JamaicaGleaner and on Facebook @GleanerJamaica. Send us a message on WhatsApp at 1-876-499-0169 or email us at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com or editors@gleanerjm.com.