Free-time residences: documentation of statistics

A free-time residence refers to a recreational building constructed permanently on the site of its location or to a residential building that is used as a holiday dwelling. Holiday cottages serving business purposes, buildings in holiday villages and allotment garden cottages are not counted as free-time residences.

Free-time residences comprise all buildings the intended use of which on 31 December was as a free-time residential building or which on the said date were used as holiday residences.

Free-time residences are not included in the building stock. The floor area of free-time residences refers to the gross floor area of the whole building.

The data on free-time residences are obtained of the Population Information System, maintained by building project notices from municipal building supervision authorities.

The number of holiday residents by municipality has been counted from the total number of persons in the household-dwelling units of the free-time residence owners. If the same person owns more than one freetime residence in the same municipality, the persons in that household-dwelling unit have been taken into account only once. If the household-dwelling unit owns a freetime residence in more than one municipality the said persons have been counted as holiday residents in both municipalities.

When counting the number of holiday residents it has not been possible to take account of the free-time residences owned by death estates or foreigners, or of those in joint ownership.