Living Spaces - Public Opinion Survey of the BBR 1996

Housing and residential status. Residential area and social structure. Mobility and economic situation. Employment. Election decision and participation.

Topics: 1. Housing and housing status: size of the place of residence (degree of urbanisation); location; duration of residence; satisfaction with the place of residence; length of residence in the apartment; number of moves in the last ten years; previous place of residence; residential status of the previous apartment; living space of the previous apartment; reasons for moving; main reason for moving; residential status of the current apartment; one or more households in the house; monthly contribution costs; type of purchase of house/flat; construction of the house/flat by public subsidies; amount of monthly mortgage repayment and interest; amount of monthly ancillary costs; amount of heating costs in the last calendar year; amount of maintenance costs in the last calendar year; monthly burden subsidy received from the state; housing entitlement certificate required; owner of the flat; rent amount; rent including costs for heating and hot water; amount of lump sum for heating and hot water (or. for heating and hot water separately); average costs for heating and hot water and payment period; rent includes modernisation charge; amount of modernisation charge in total or per sqm; type of modernisation measures for which a modernisation charge is paid; adequacy of rental costs; receipt of housing benefit; amount of monthly housing charge; living space; number of rooms; assessment of apartment size; apartment furnishing; apartment equipment meets needs; preferred living standard; year of construction of the house; assessment of the structural condition of the house; satisfaction with the apartment.

2. Residential area and social structure: satisfaction with the immediate residential environment; satisfaction with the environmental conditions at the place of residence; walking distance to selected facilities (e.g. public transport stops, shopping facilities, doctors, kindergarten, primary school, etc.); social structure: social differences in the immediate living environment; relationship with neighbours; satisfaction with the neighbourhood; development of personal living situation; greatest loss after possible relocation (local connection); preferred home; preferred residential area; foreigners in the residential environment; proportion of foreigners in the residential area compared to other residential areas; foreigners who have been living in the residential area or have recently moved in; newly arrived foreigners are predominantly ethnic Germans, refugees or have been living in Germany for some time; relationship between foreigners and Germans in the residential environment; attitude towards the spatial separation of Germans and foreigners; personal contacts with foreigners or Germans in the family, at work, in the neighbourhood or among friends and acquaintances; assessment of assistance for foreigners (simple entry aids, more extensive integration measures or renouncement of such assistance).

3. Mobility: intention to move; reasons for moving; most important reason for moving; preference for moving (target area); plans for the current apartment within the next two years or changes already carried out in the last two years (new furnish, renovate, modernise, add-on or conversion); classification on a ladder best form of living / worst imaginable apartment (own apartment, in comparison own apartment 5 years ago, best accessible apartment, justly entitled apartment, average apartment of friends and acquaintances, apartment of an average German citizen); assessment of the current personal economic situation.

4. Employment: employment status; job security; length of working distance; longest accepted working distance in minutes; willingness to commute.

5. Election decision and participation: eligibility to vote in the last federal election; participation in the last federal election and election decision (second vote); party preference (Sunday question) or party most likely to be considered.

Demography: sex; age (month of birth and year of birth); highest school leaving certificate or targeted school leaving certificate; age at school leaving certificate; vocational education or training certificate; current or former employment; full-time or part-time employment; current or last professional position; current or last professional activity; marital status; cohabitation with a partner; own children; self-classification of class; denomination; closeness to the church; household size; net income of the respondent; number of children in the household and age of these children; number of persons in the household aged 18 years and older; number of persons in the household who contribute to the household income; number of persons employed in the household; household net income; place of residence before 1989; car ownership; German citizenship; telephone connection in the household.
Interviewer rating: residential house type; residential area type.

Additionally coded was: BBSR ID; Split; Respondents ID; ADM network; state; government district; city size (political community size, BIK/Boustedt); interview date; Interview duration; weighting factors.