Content
About the statistics
Definitions
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Name and topic
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Name: Municipal housing charges
Topic: Construction, housing and property
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Responsible division
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Division for Price Statistics
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Definitions of the main concepts and variables
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Water- and sewerage charge:
The charge is either based on stipulated consumption or on actual consumption, with or without a fixed part. To obtain comparable figures, the charges for water and sewage are tied to a standard house of 120 square metres, or for the use of 175 m3 water.
Refuse collection charge:
The refuse collection charge is calculated based on a standard whole-year subscription. The development of the refuse collection service during the last couple of years has caused great variations among the municipalities and makes it difficult to make accurate comparisons.
Chimney sweeping/inspection: collected as a yearly fee for sweeping and inspection of one chimney
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Standard classifications
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Region, county and municipality
Administrative information
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Regional level
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Published on municipal, regional and national level, from 2002 municipal figures are published through KOSTRA-project.
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Frequency and timeliness
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Annual
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International reporting
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None - not relevant
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Microdata
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Data are stored in SAS and Oracle databases, in addition to excel.
Background
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Background and purpose
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The main purpose is to describe the development and the charge level of municipal technical services. The results are an important source of information explaining changes in the housing expenses in the Consumer price index. The statistics was established in 1990.
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Users and applications
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On behalf of "Huseiernes Landsforbund" Statistics Norway works out a survey describing the municipal charges in all municipalities in the country based on the KOSTRA data.
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Equal treatment of users
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Not relevant
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Coherence with other statistics
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The results are an important source of information explaining changes in the housing expenses in the CPI.
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Legal authority
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The Statistics Act §3-2. The information is collected on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.
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EEA reference
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None
Production
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Population
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The population is defined as all municipalities in the country. The municipalities have provided information on technical services such as water, sewerage, refuse collection in addition to chimney sweeping.
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Data sources and sampling
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The statistics is based on electronic data received from the municipalities through KOSTRA-project.
Total counting
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Collection of data, editing and estimations
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The collection of data is made under KOSTRA directions. The municipalities report to KOSTRA in the period from January to May and the work is concluded in June. Some data is even obtained by e-mail, phone or websites.
The data are revised through the system "DynaRev/ISEE" where the charges are put through tests, which identify large price changes and duplicates. In case of large changes each municipality is contacted by e-mail. The municipalities' web pages are also used to verify the charges. The municipalities themselves have also the opportunity to check their figures.
Weighted average figures are calculated for the levels and change rates on regional and national level. Figures are checked against former published figures.
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Seasonal adjustment
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Not relevant
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Confidentiality
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Not relevant
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Comparability over time and space
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The statistics goes back to 1990. Up till 2000 the survey was entirely based on postal questionnaires. From 2000 the survey was partly based on KOSTRA data and from 2002 the statistics are entirely based on electronic KOSTRA data. From 2002 the change rates are weighed figures as well.
Accuracy and reliability
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Sources of error and uncertainty
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Collection and processing errors:
Errors may occur in connection with the collection data when filling out the electronic questionnaire but gross error will be corrected during revision. The charges are to be reported excluding the value added tax. Mistakes occur in cases were the VAT is included in the charges.
Sampling errors:
None
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Revision
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Not relevant
Additional information
All figures are weighted averages, based on the total fee income reported through KOSTRA. The figures in this article are inclusive of VAT, but in KOSTRA they are reported without VAT. Some municipalities do not have or do not report figures for one or all four areas. These have been excluded from the calculation or may have imputed figures.