Housing, Income, and Iranian Households

The Open Data Iran database is an innovative project aimed at collecting data related to Iran in one place and presenting it in easily accessible formats. Radio Farda, in collaboration with this entity, publishes a series of articles. In the collective memory of Iranians, two points about houses seem certain: that old houses are larger than new ones and that rural houses are larger than urban ones. But are these perceptions actually correct? Whatever the answer, its importance lies in the fact that the area of residential homes is an indicator of the welfare status of families. In this short note, to answer this question, we will first examine statistics published annually by the Statistical Center of Iran regarding the floor area of residential units used by households. Unfortunately, although the history of the household income and expenditure survey dates back to 1973, data regarding the floor area of residential units was only added to the survey items in 2007. Analyzing the available statistics from the eight-year period from 2007 to 2015 across various urban and rural areas of Iran will show us that both of the above perceptions may be incorrect. The average area of urban houses is larger than that of rural houses, and as time has progressed, the area of houses has also increased. Additionally, at the end of this article, we will briefly mention the difference in residential area among the three lowest income deciles compared to the national average. These differences, although decreasing over time, will still remind us that often behind average numbers lies a sea of differences and class disparities. In urban areas, Chart 1 illustrates the trend of changes in the floor area of residential units used by urban households from 2007 to 2015. As can be seen, the most noticeable change in these areas occurred where the share of residential units with an area of less than 50 square meters decreased, while the share of units between 75 to 100 square meters increased. This change, alongside the continuous decrease in household size in recent years, may indicate an increase in the per capita space available to families. On the other hand, the percentage of houses with an area greater than 150 square meters also decreased during this time, dropping from about 10 percent to around 7 percent. Overall, it seems that in urban areas, the per capita residential area has been increasing. However, in 2015, about 11 percent of urban Iranian households still resided in units with less than 50 square meters of area. In rural areas of Iran, contrary to the common urban perception of large and beautiful rural houses, the average area of residential homes is smaller than that of urban areas. For instance, houses with a floor area of more than 150 square meters had the least share in the total housing stock of rural households. Furthermore, while in 2007 only 11 percent of urban houses had an area of less than 50 square meters, this figure was more than double in rural areas, approaching 26 percent. Looking at the statistics from 2015 shows that although the share of units under 50 square meters decreased to about 19 percent, this figure remains nearly double that of urban areas. At the same time, in rural areas, similar to urban areas, the share of residential units with an area between 75 to 100 square meters has increased by about seven percent during this eight-year period. Examining the floor area of residential units used by the three lowest income deciles in Iranian society can also provide a picture of class disparity in this specific issue. Data from the Statistical Center of Iran indicates that in 2007, among the three lowest income urban deciles, four out of ten households lived in homes with an area of less than 50 square meters. However, by 2015, two out of ten households in these three deciles resided in units under 50 square meters. These figures indicate an overall improvement in the situation of these households over the aforementioned years, although the status of these three deciles still differs significantly from the overall average. In rural areas of Iran, the situation has been worse. At the beginning of the period, half of the families in the three lowest income deciles lived in housing under 50 square meters, and by the end of the period in 2015, 40 percent of these households were still residing in such homes. The above analyses of the floor area of residential units in urban and rural areas of Iran collectively show that between 2007 and 2015, the share of very small units under 50 square meters has decreased, while the share of medium-sized units with an area between 75 to 100 square meters has increased. This phenomenon has occurred in both urban and rural areas and indicates that the construction boom during these years has relatively increased the per capita space available to families. Nevertheless, despite this decreasing trend, a significant number of low-income Iranian families still live in homes under 50 square meters, particularly in rural areas where the numbers are striking.