RAMALLAH, October 2, 2011 (WAFA) -  The number of housing units in the Palestinian Territory in 2011 is expected to reach 884,385 units with an increase of about 26% compared to 2007, Sunday said the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).

In a press release on the occasion of Arab Housing Day, PCBS said that 0.9% of households in the Palestinian Territory live in a villa, 48% live in a house and 50% live in an apartment. The percentage of households living in owned housing units in the Palestinian Territory is 84%: 82% in the West Bank and 87% in the Gaza Strip.

The average housing density in the Palestinian Territory is 1.6 persons per room in 2010: 1.5 in the West Bank and 1.8 in the Gaza Strip. Around 10% of households in the Palestinian Territory live in housing units with three persons or more per room: 8% in the West Bank and 12% in the Gaza Strip, said PCBS.

It stated the average number of rooms in the housing unit in the Palestinian Territory in 2010 as 3.6, with about 15% of households living in housing units with 1-2 rooms: 17% in the West Bank and 13% in the Gaza Strip.

The average monthly rent for a housing unit in the Palestinian Territory was 153 Jordanian dinars ($216) in 2010: 165 JDs ($233) in the West Bank and 109 JDs ($154) in the Gaza Strip.

43% of households in the West Bank living in a rented housing unit pay a monthly rent of 150 JDs ($212) or more, compared to 7% in the Gaza Strip.

PCBS said that around 72% of households in the Palestinian Territory will be in need of new housing units to be built during the next ten years: 72% in the West Bank and 71% in the Gaza Strip.

The marking of this day comes in response to a decision by the Council of Arab Housing and Reconstruction Ministers within the framework of the League of Arab States to adapt the first Monday of October every year as 'Arab Housing Day.'

T.R./F.J.