Définition
A dwelling is a place used for housing:
- separate, i.e. closed by walls and partitions, without communication with another place except the common parts within the building (corridor, stairs, etc.);
- independent, i.e. having an entrance with direct access to the outside or to the common parts within the building.
The dwellings are divided into four categories : main residences, second homes, occasional dwellings, vacant dwellings.
Although having specific characteristics, hotel accommodation for the elderly, the furnished rooms and precarious or makeshift dwellings (caravans, mobile homes, etc.) are also dwellings with regards to INSEE’s definition.