Abstract
Those of the working class who owned houses in the city have struggled with housing problems of their own. Reflecting both social and economic backgrounds, the percentage of owned houses in Japan, ever since the end of World War II, has been around 60 per cent. Bearing such circumstances in mind, the usual method of studying housing expenditure by using the rental fees of rented houses as a reference could not be used. Alternatively, a different survey method was employed, devised by the author after carefully examining all the factors contributing to housing expenditure. The western suburbs of Nara City, which were originally built to encourage such growth of dormitory suburbs around Osaka City, were targeted for the survey. 602 out of 843 questionnaires distributed in 1982 were responded to ; a percentage of 71.4. Results from the survey showed 3 different classifications of "equivalent of housing expenditure" emerging. The magnitudes of each of these classifications were subsequently compared with each other to derive meaning.
