Housing is a number one priority for a majority of people , no matter how much they earn .However it takes more significance in informal settlements as the people's migration from villages to cities and their settling at the margins of the cities has turned into a widespread problem .Since any planning in this regard requires an introduction of the present condition and the quality and quantity of the issue of the housing ,it has been tried in the present paper to have a survey on the characteristics of housing in Shahid Rajaee town as the largest informal settlement in Mashhad with a descriptive -analytical method. Data was gathered through fieldwork and questionnaire. 5% of the total housings in the town, that is , 622 housings were randomly studied .The findings indicate undesirable quality and quantity of the settlement and a lower condition compared with the average in Mashhad. In quantity specifications, high population density, high dimension of the housing, shortage of the rooms available for the housing ,high density of individuals in one room, small area of the residentia l units are among the most significant points. Shortage of housing in this town is the result of informal and illegal market and spontaneous housing supplying relying on family work can hardly be seen. The quality specifications in different aspects include type of building materials, the strength and durability of the building, time and the manner it has been constructed, the condition of its ownership and available facilities indicate an undesired condition. Thus, having in the mind that the physical condition and inappropriate housing can bring about other social, cultural and economic issues, improving the condition of these settlements through approaches such as remediation and empowering the residents by manipulating their potential talents should be put into consideration.

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