Mortgage affordability indicator (MAID)

Latest release
Census of Population and Housing: Census dictionary
Cite
Reference period
2021

Definition

This variable allocates an in scope household to one of two categories:

  • mortgage repayments less than or equal to 30% of household income
  • mortgage repayments more than 30% of household income.

Scope

Occupied private dwellings owned with a mortgage or purchased under a shared equity scheme  

Categories

CodeCategory
1Households where mortgage repayments are less than or equal to 30% of household income
2Households where mortgage repayments are more than 30% of household income
3Unable to be determined
@Not applicable

Number of categories: 4

Not applicable (@) category comprises:

  • Unoccupied private dwellings
  • Visitor only households
  • Non-private dwellings
  • Migratory, off-shore and shipping SA1s
  • Other non-classifiable dwellings
  • Tenure type (TEND) - Owned outright, Rented, Occupied rent-free, Occupied under a life tenure scheme, Other tenure type, Not stated, Not applicable

Question(s) from the Census form

What is the total of all income the person usually receives?

What is the total of all income the person usually receives?
What is the total of all income Person 1 usually receives? Do not deduct: tax, superannuation contributions, amounts salary sacrificed, or any other automatic deductions. Include: • Wages and salaries • Regular overtime • Commissions and bonuses • Government pensions, benefits and allowances • Profit or loss from: • Unincorporated business/farm (e.g. sole traders, partnerships) • Rental properties • Other income from: • Superannuation • Child support • Dividends from shares • Interest • Workers’ compensation • Any other income sources • More information • Person's usual total income $3,500 or more per week ($182,000 or more per year) $3,000 - $3,499 per week ($156,000 - $181,999 per year) $2,000 - $2,999 per week ($104,000 - $155,999 per year) $1,750 - $1,999 per week ($91,000 - $103,999 per year) $1,500 - $1,749 per week ($78,000 - $90,999 per year) $1,250 - $1,499 per week ($65,000 - $77,999 per year) $1,000 - $1,249 per week ($52,000 - $64,999 per year) $800 - $999 per week ($41,600 - $51,999 per year) $650 - $799 per week ($33,800 - $41,599 per year) $500 - $649 per week ($26,000 - $33,799 per year) $400 - $499 per week ($20,800 - $25,999 per year) $300 - $399 per week ($15,600 - $20,799 per year) $150 - $299 per week ($7,800 - $15,599 per year) $1 - $149 per week ($1 - $7,799 per year) $0 or nil income Negative income

More Information

Additional information relating to the question on: What is the total of all income the person usually receives?
What is the total of all income Person 1 usually receives? Do not deduct: tax, superannuation contributions, amounts salary sacrificed, or any other automatic deductions. Include: • Wages and salaries • Regular overtime • Commissions and bonuses • Government pensions, benefits and allowances • Profit or loss from: • Unincorporated business/farm (e.g. sole traders, partnerships) • Rental properties • Other income from: • Superannuation • Child support • Dividends from shares • Interest • Workers’ compensation • Any other income sources More information Information from this question provides an indication of living standards in different areas. Count total income from all sources, not just a regular wage or salary. Total income is the person's personal income before any tax, superannuation contributions, amounts salary sacrificed or other automatic payments are deducted. If the person is currently affected by COVID lockdown restrictions, report the total income they usually received before the lockdown began. Government pensions, benefits and allowances Include: • Age Pension • Family Tax Benefit • Parenting Payment • Disability Support Pension • JobSeeker Payment • Youth and student allowances • Carer Allowance • Any other government pension, benefit or allowance Note: remember to include the total value of any pensions, benefits and other government allowances that the person is currently receiving. Business owners and self-employed people Business owners and self-employed people should include the total profit or loss from the operations of their business, or their share of the business in a partnership. The profit or loss of a business is calculated as its gross receipts less its operation expenses (such as rent, materials and fuel costs). If the person has other sources of income, such as wages or government allowances, these should be added to their business income to calculate their total income from all sources. Other income For interest and dividends, calculate the amount the person expects to receive in a full year and add this to their total yearly income from other sources; divide by 26 to work out a fortnightly amount; or, divide by 52 to work out a weekly amount. For other regular income, such as superannuation or child support, include the amount the person currently receives for one week or fortnight, or calculate the amount they expect to receive in a full year and add this to their total yearly income from other sources. Include Private Pensions and Workers Compensation under Other income. Negative income Negative income occurs when the operating expenses are higher than the gross receipts (or revenue) of a self-employed person, business or a rental property. A person has negative income if these losses are greater than any income, benefits or allowances received from other sources.

Is this dwelling: (please open this section to view response categories)

Is this dwelling:
Is the dwelling at 1 Smith Street: Include owners of caravans, manufactured homes or houseboats in ‘Owned with a mortgage’ or ‘Owned outright’ regardless of whether or not the site is owned. A shared equity scheme is a government or not-for-profit scheme - assisting people on lower incomes to buy a home by sharing up to 30% of the ownership. Life tenure schemes are a common arrangement in retirement villages. Include leaseholds, and loan and license agreements in ‘Occupied under a life tenure scheme’. • Dwelling ownership • Owned outright • Owned with a mortgage • Purchased under a shared equity scheme • Rented • Occupied rent free • Occupied under a life tenure scheme • Other

Example

Mortgage affordability indicator example - owned outright response selected
Is the dwelling at 1 Smith Street: Include owners of caravans, manufactured homes or houseboats in ‘Owned with a mortgage’ or ‘Owned outright’ regardless of whether or not the site is owned. A shared equity scheme is a government or not-for-profit scheme - assisting people on lower incomes to buy a home by sharing up to 30% of the ownership. Life tenure schemes are a common arrangement in retirement villages. Include leaseholds, and loan and license agreements in ‘Occupied under a life tenure scheme’. Dwelling ownership Owned outright (selected response) Owned with a mortgage Purchased under a shared equity scheme Rented Occupied rent free Occupied under a life tenure scheme Other Rent arrangements These questions do not apply, based on your answer to the previous question.

Example

Mortgage affordability indicator example - occupied rent free response selected
Is the dwelling at 1 Smith Street: Include owners of caravans, manufactured homes or houseboats in ‘Owned with a mortgage’ or ‘Owned outright’ regardless of whether or not the site is owned. A shared equity scheme is a government or not-for-profit scheme - assisting people on lower incomes to buy a home by sharing up to 30% of the ownership. Life tenure schemes are a common arrangement in retirement villages. Include leaseholds, and loan and license agreements in ‘Occupied under a life tenure scheme’. Dwelling ownership Owned outright Owned with a mortgage Purchased under a shared equity scheme Rented Occupied rent free (selected response) Occupied under a life tenure scheme Other

Example

Mortgage affordability indicator example - rented response selected
Is the dwelling at 1 Smith Street: Include owners of caravans, manufactured homes or houseboats in ‘Owned with a mortgage’ or ‘Owned outright’ regardless of whether or not the site is owned. A shared equity scheme is a government or not-for-profit scheme - assisting people on lower incomes to buy a home by sharing up to 30% of the ownership. Life tenure schemes are a common arrangement in retirement villages. Include leaseholds, and loan and license agreements in ‘Occupied under a life tenure scheme’. Dwelling ownership Owned outright Owned with a mortgage Purchased under a shared equity scheme Rented (selected response) Occupied rent free Occupied under a life tenure scheme Other

How much does your household pay for this dwelling?

How much does your household pay for this dwelling?
How much does the household pay for 1 Smith Street? Include rent and mortgage repayments and site fees if the dwelling is a caravan or manufactured home in a caravan park or manufactured home estate. Exclude water rates, council rates, repairs, maintenance, body corporate and other fees. If no payments, please select '$0 or Nil payments'. More information Total dwelling payments $ .00 per week OR $ .00 per fortnight OR $ .00 per month OR $0 or Nil payments

More information

Additional instructions relating to the question on: How much does your household pay for this dwelling?
How much does the household pay for 1 Smith Street? Include rent and mortgage repayments and site fees if the dwelling is a caravan or manufactured home in a caravan park or manufactured home estate. Exclude water rates, council rates, repairs, maintenance, body corporate and other fees. If no payments, please select '$0 or Nil payments'. More information If exact amount is not known, please provide your best estimate.

How this variable is created

The Mortgage affordability indicator is calculated by dividing Mortgage repayments (MRED) by an imputed household income. Both variables are expressed as single dollar values. The calculation determines whether mortgage repayments are:

  • less than or equal to 30% of household income
  • more than 30% of household income

The Census collects the income of each person in the household aged 15 years or over in ranges. To sum these personal income values to calculate a household income, a specific dollar amount is allocated to each person. A median dollar value for each range, derived using data from the Survey of Income and Housing, is used for this purpose. For more information about this survey see the Survey of Income and Housing, User Guide. 

Mortgage repayments are already collected in a single dollar amount.

Mortgage affordability indicator is coded to ‘Unable to be determined’ where:

  • Mortgage (monthly) dollar value (MRED) is Not stated
  • at least one resident aged 15 and over was either not at home on Census Night or did not state their Total personal income (INCP)
  • no residents aged 15 and over who were at home on Census Night stated their Total personal income (INCP)

History and changes

This is a new variable for 2021. QuickStats will use the Mortgage affordability indicator variable, and therefore comparisons shouldn’t be made with previous Census data in QuickStats.

In previous censuses, a measure of mortgage affordability could only be obtained from QuickStats. This measure was different from MAID as it used all occupied private dwellings whether owned outright, owned with a mortgage or rented, as the denominator population.

MAID only applies to dwellings owned with a mortgage or purchased under a shared equity scheme, which is a more accurate representation of the population to measure mortgage affordability.

Data use considerations

As housing costs are usually a major component of total living costs they are often analysed in relation to income and referred to as a housing affordability ratio. However, comparisons using these measures are subject to certain limitations.

As described above, the Census collects personal income in ranges. For this purpose, a single median value for each income range is calculated. It should also be noted that individuals may tend to understate their incomes on the Census, compared with the amounts that would be reported in surveys designed specifically to measure incomes. As a result of these limitations, the use of Census imputed incomes in the calculation of each household’s housing costs to income ratio may significantly overstate the true proportion of households with mortgage repayments greater than 30% of income.

Mortgage repayments may be greater than 30% of income for a number of reasons, and do not necessarily indicate being in financial stress.

  • Mortgage repayments normally include both an interest component and a principal or capital component. For some analyses, repayments of principal may be considered a form of saving rather than a housing cost.
  • High mortgage repayments may reflect a choice to buy a more expensive home, for example in an area that is close to their place of employment, or a preference for a relatively high standard of housing compared with other consumption possibilities.
  • Some households choose to pay more than the minimum required payment, to pay off a mortgage faster.

This variable does not have a non-response rate as it is created during Census processing by using responses from more than one question on the Census form. 

Related variables and glossary terms

  • Tenure type (TEND)
  • Total personal income (weekly) (INCP)
  • Mortgage repayment (monthly) (MRED)

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