India - Household Consumer Expenditure, July 1993 - June 1994, NSS 50th Round

Information on the type of dwelling unit will be entered against this item in codes. The codes are :
independent house - 1, flat - 2, chawl - 3, others - 9.

An independent house is one which has a separate struc­ture and entrance with self-contained arrangements. In other words, if the dwelling unit land the entire structure of the house are physically the ;same it should be considered an inde­pendent house. In some parts especially in rural areas, two or more structures together may constitute a single housing unit.
such as housing will also be treated as an independent house.

A flat is a self-contained housing arrangement occupying a portion of a building. It consists of one or more rooms with normal housing facilities like water supply, bath and toilet for exclusive use of a single household. If a household occupy­ing a portion of a building has some housing facilities like water supply, bath and/or toilet for its exclusive use in a detached structure(s), it is also regarded as occupying a flat.

A chawl may be described as a building with a numbers of generally single-roomed having common corridor and bathing and toilet facilities. In case of three/four storeyed chawl the common facilities of a bath land toilet may be ;available in each floor for the tenements of that floor.

Others : covers all other types of housing arrangements. This will include flat-like dwellings which are not self-contained in respect of water, bath and toilets facilities, hostel accommodation etc.