Andhra Pradesh, the fifth largest state in terms of population, has more number of households supported by corresponding access to housing when compared to the number and size of households in Indian population.
The house-listing and housing census data of the state of 2011 Census, released here on Friday, shows that though AP accounts for 6.99 per cent of the total population (8.46 crore versus 121 crore), it shares 8.5 per cent of the total households (2.10 crore versus 24.7 crore) in the country.
Higher number of households in the population is highlighted by the fact that those with only up to four members account for 66.8 per cent of the total households as compared to the All-India figure of 49.7 per cent. Interestingly, 30.9 per cent of these households have a size of four members as compared to 22.7 per cent at the national level.
In contrast, 6-8 member households are just 13.6 per cent in the state, as against 24.9 per cent, at All-India level. Also, 89.2 per cent of the households in the state have either only one married couple or none, while this category is 81.7 per cent in the country. Five per cent of the AP households, which are little over 1 million, have only one member living in the house, as against 3.7 per cent similar cases exist in the whole of India.
Accordingly, houses with occupied residences and residence-cum-other-use stand at 8.48 per cent of the total number of houses under this category in the country. However, only 78.5 per cent of these households own these houses, while 19.7 per cent live in rented houses as compared to 87 per cent households having own houses in India. And, 44.3 per cent of the urban households in AP live in rented houses, according to the data..
Corresponding to the smaller size of the households, about 76 per cent of the houses have either one or two-rooms, while houses with no extra room account for 2.9 per cent of the total occupied residence space in the state, according to the census data.
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Better access to housing and amenities as indicated by the census data is also reinforced by large-scale weaker section housing programme taken up by the successive governments in the state. For example, about 48.8 per cent of the houses in the state have concrete roofs, as compared to 29 per cent at the national level. This is also consistent with the rural households as 41.2 per cent of which are built with concrete roofs, as against just 18.3 per cent at the national level.
The census data also painted a positive picture with regard to basic amenities enjoyed by the households.
Around 92.2 per cent of households in the state have access to electricity (All India 67 per cent), 69.9 per cent have water tap as main source of drinking water (43.5 per cent), 49.6 per cent have latrine facility within the premises (47 per cent), 67 per cent have bathing facility (58 per cent) and 35.8 per cent have access to LPG (28.5 per cent).
Also, 58.8 per cent of the households in the state own a television set, while 47 per cent households at the national level own a TV. However, those that do not possess any of the specified assets mentioned in the census survey comprise 19.4 per cent of the total households in the state as against 18 per cent of the All India figure.
Of the total stock of 2.56 core houses, 86 per cent are used as residences and the remaining are used for shops, offices, schools, factories, hotels etc. Over 1.8 million houses were found vacant during the survey.