what is a housing unit 
a housing unit is a single unit within a larger structure that can be used by an individual or household to eat sleep and live the unit can be in any type of residence such as a house apartment or mobile home and may also be a single unit in a group of rooms essentially a housing unit is deemed to be a separate living quarter where the occupants live and eat separately from other residents of the structure or building they also have direct access from the building s exterior or through a common hallway understanding housing unitshousing units are residential units found in different types of structures including residential homes apartments and condominium buildings they may also be multiple rooms in a large structure such as a hotel or motel these units allow an individual or family to live eat and sleep separately from others which is also why they re referred to as separate living quarters residential construction both permitted and non permitted is the largest component of change in housing units more than 99 of all new housing units are built in places that issue building permits according to the u s census bureau 1the following living quarters are generally not considered housing units and are not included in census bureau data recording housing unitseach year the u s census bureau provides housing unit estimates for all counties and states these estimates are used as controls for the tracking of population growth or loss for cities and towns estimates start with the most recent census data then add in the estimated amount of new residential construction and mobile homes next the estimated housing units lost is subtracted and results in the annual estimate figure there were 143 8 million housing units in the u s in 2022 according to the u s census bureau 2there are three types of situations that determine the loss of a housing unit the loss rate of homes in certain states is accelerating due to natural disasters for example california s butte county the site of the camp fire wildfire in 2018 saw a 13 9 decline in housing units from 100 074 to 86 209 between 2018 and 2019 3examples of housing unitsas noted above there are many different types of housing units for instance single families can be converted into multiple units as illustrated by the following example a homeowner may decide to renovate their basement to accommodate a secondary suite once complete the owner may rent out the unit to another individual or family or offer the unit to members of their family this dwelling becomes a separate housing unit similarly a developer may seek permits to construct an apartment complex on an empty piece of land the apartments that are constructed are counted as separate housing units 