Last edited 05 Oct 2020

Dwellinghouse definition

[edit] Approved document B definition

Approved document B, Fire Safety, Volume 2, Buildings other than dwellinghouses (2019 edition), defines a dwellinghouse as:

'... a unit where one or more people live (whether or not as a sole or main residence) in either of the following situations.

A single person or people living together as a family.
A maximum of six people living together as a single household, including where care is provided for residents.'

NB 'Dwellinghouse' does not include a flat or a building containing a flat, whereas 'dwelling' includes a dwellinghouse and a flat.

[edit] Approved document L1A definition

Approved document L1A, Conservation of fuel and power in new dwellings suggests that the word ‘dwelling’ means:

‘...a self-contained unit designed to accommodate a single household.‘

It notes that ‘…buildings exclusively containing rooms for residential purposes, such as nursing homes, student accommodation and similar, are not dwellings’

[edit] Approved document M2 definition

Approved document M, Volume 2: Buildings other than dwellings, suggests that the term 'dwelling' means:

'...a house or a flat. However, new blocks of flats built as student accommodation are to be treated as though they are hotel/motel accommodation in respect of space requirements and internal facilities.'

[edit] UK Census definition

The UK Census identifies types of dwelling as; houses, bungalows, flats, maisonettes and bedsits.

The 2001 Census definition of a dwelling is:

'a self-contained unit of accommodation. Self-containment is where all the rooms (including kitchen, bathroom and toilet) in a household’s accommodation are behind a single door which only that household can use. Non-self contained household spaces at the same address should be counted together as a single dwelling. Therefore a dwelling can consist of one self-contained household space or two or more non-self-contained household spaces at the same address.

'Ancillary dwellings (eg former ‘granny annexes’) are included provided they are self-contained, pay separate council tax from the main residence, do not share access with the main residence (eg a shared hallway) and there are no conditional restrictions on occupancy.'

For more information see: Gov.uk, Definitions of general housing terms.

[edit] English Housing Survey

The English Housing Survey Housing Stock Report, 2014-15, prepared by the Department of Communities and Local Government, defines a dwelling as:

'A unit of accommodation which may comprise one or more household spaces (a household space is the accommodation used or available for use by an individual household).'

A dwelling may be classified as shared or unshared. A dwelling is shared if:

The household spaces it contains are ‘part of a converted or shared house’, or
Not all of the rooms (including kitchen, bathroom and toilet, if any) are behind a door that only that household can use, and
There is at least one other such household space at the same address with which it can be combined to form the shared dwelling.

Dwellings that do not meet these conditions are unshared dwellings.

This definition was repeated in the English Housing Survey, Profile and condition of the English housing stock, 2018-19, Published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government in August 2020.

[edit] Construction Act

The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (HGRA - also known as the Construction Act) suggests that “dwelling” means: ‘…a building or part of a building occupied or intended to be occupied as a separate dwelling, together with any yard, garden, outhouses and appurtenances belonging to it or usually enjoyed with it.’