Households under-occupying their home

Published 10 October 2018

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Contents

1. Main facts and figures

• in 2014 to 2017, around 8.3 million (36%) of the estimated 23 million households in England were under-occupied (that is, they had at least 2 bedrooms more than they needed)
• households from the Mixed White and Asian, White British, White Irish, Indian, and Any other Black ethnic groups were most likely to be under-occupied
• across all socio-economic groups and regions in England, and regardless of whether they owned or rented their home, White British households were more likely to under-occupy their home than households from all other ethnic groups combined

Things you need to know

Compared with White British households, ethnic minority households tend to:

• be younger
• have lived in England for a shorter time
• be located in urban areas
• live in larger households
• live in rented accommodation

To ensure that there is a large enough number of ethnic minority households to produce reliable findings, the data is drawn from the English Housing Survey (EHS) for 3 years combined: 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17.

You should avoid comparing these findings with those from last year. This is because last year’s findings were based on EHS data from 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16, so the source for last year’s and this year’s findings overlap.

Information published in the EHS headline report and other annual reports is usually based on a 12-month period, rather than the 3 years’ combined data used here. As a result, the statistics shown here may not match those in the EHS reports.

The commentary has focused on findings based on subgroups of at least 30 households to ensure that only reliable findings are reported.

The number of Gypsy or Irish Traveller households in the data is very small. To avoid disclosing personal information about individuals in those groups, information about them is not presented in some of the tables and charts.

The English Housing Survey (EHS) is a ‘sample survey’: it collects information from a random sample of the population to make generalisations (reach 'findings’) about the total population.

The commentary for this data only includes reliable, or ‘statistically significant’, findings.

Findings are statistically significant when we can be confident that they can be repeated, and are reflective of the total population rather than just the survey sample.

Specifically, the statistical tests used mean we can be confident that if we carried out the same survey on different random samples of the population, 19 times out of 20 we would get similar findings.

What the data measures

This data measures households under-occupying their home and how different ethnic groups are affected.

Under-occupation is measured using the bedroom standard. This is the difference between the number of bedrooms needed to avoid undesirable sharing (based on the age, sex and relationship of household members) and the number of bedrooms actually available to the household.

For example, each married or cohabiting couple would be allowed a bedroom, as would an individual aged 21 or over and each pair of adolescents or children of the same sex.

A household is counted as under-occupied if it has at least 2 bedrooms more than it needs according to the bedroom standard.

The figures are drawn from the 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 English Housing Survey (EHS). The survey involves face-to-face interviews with about 13,300 randomly-selected households every year.

These are used to make estimates for the 23 million households in England as a whole.

The EHS is a national survey of people's housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of homes.

The information relates to households. A household is one person or a group of people (not necessarily related) who have the accommodation as their only or main residence. If it is a group, they must share cooking facilities and also share a living room, sitting room or dining area.

Some households contain people from different ethnic backgrounds. In these circumstances, the ethnic background of the ‘household reference person’ (usually the person in whose name the home is owned) is used to define the ethnic background of the household.

Nearly all the household reference persons – more than 99.8% interviewed – gave information on their ethnicity.

Data is shown for the following 9 regions:

• North East
• North West
• Yorkshire and the Humber
• East Midlands
• West Midlands
• East of England
• London
• South East
• South West

The ethnic categories used in this data

For comparisons made at national level, this data uses the following 18 ethnic groups based on the 2011 Census.

White:

• English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British
• Irish
• Gypsy, Traveller or Irish Traveller
• Any other White background

Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups:

• White and Black Caribbean
• White and Black African
• White and Asian
• Any other Mixed/Multiple ethnic background

Asian/Asian British:

• Indian
• Pakistani
• Bangladeshi
• Chinese
• Any other Asian background

Black/African/Caribbean/Black British:

• African
• Caribbean
• Any other Black/African/Caribbean background

Other ethnic group:

• Arab
• Any other ethnic group

For data analysed both by ethnicity and by socio-economic group, income, area and age, the following 2 ethnic categories have been used:

• White British
• Other – all other ethnic groups (including White ethnic minorities and all other ethnic minorities)

This is because the number of people surveyed becomes too small to be reliable when broken down by both ethnicity and another factor like socio-economic group or income. Data is therefore grouped to a size where estimates become reliable.

2. Households under-occupying their home by ethnicity

• Location: England
• Time period: 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 (combined)
• Source: English Housing Survey

Percentage and number of households (in thousands) under-occupying their home by ethnicity

Ethnicity	%	Under-occupying households ('000s)	All households ('000s)
Asian
Bangladeshi	14	17	121
Chinese	18	22	123
Indian	29	152	517
Pakistani	19	66	338
Asian other	18	39	212
Black
Black African	9	35	396
Black Caribbean	22	63	284
Black other	36	12	34
Mixed
Mixed White/Asian	41	24	59
Mixed White/Black African	18	14	78
Mixed White/Black Caribbean	19	18	97
Mixed other	18	8	44
White
White British	40	7,521	18,816
White Irish	37	67	181
White Gypsy/Traveller
White other	17	195	1,152
Other
Arab	11	8	69
Any other	17	42	240

Data withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Households under-occupying their home Households under-occupying their home by ethnicity Summary

This data shows that:

• in 2014 to 2017, 8.3 million (36%) of the households in England were under-occupying their home in the time period studied (that is, they had at least 2 bedrooms more than they needed)
• households from the Mixed White and Asian (41%), White British (40%), White Irish (37%), Indian (29%), and Any other Black ethnic groups (36%) were most likely to under-occupy their home

3. Households under-occupying their home by ethnicity and socio-economic group

• Location: England
• Time period: 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 (combined)
• Source: English Housing Survey

Percentage and number of households (in thousands) under-occupying their home by ethnicity and socio-economic group

	White British			Other than White British
Socio-economic group	White British %	White British Under-occupying households ('000s)	White British All households ('000s)	Other than White British %	Other than White British Under-occupying households ('000s)	Other than White British All households ('000s)
Higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations	50	3,803	7,652	27	397	1,467
Intermediate occupations	40	1,537	3,887	18	130	740
Routine and manual occupations	29	1,783	6,195	14	184	1,346

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Households under-occupying their home Households under-occupying their home by ethnicity and socio-economic group Summary

This data shows that:

• across all socio-economic groups, White British households were more likely to under-occupy their home than households from all other ethnic groups combined

4. Households under-occupying their home by ethnicity and income

• Location: England
• Time period: 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 (combined)
• Source: English Housing Survey

Percentage and number of households (in thousands) under-occupying their home by ethnicity and weekly income

	White British			Other than White British
Income band	White British %	White British Under-occupying households ('000s)	White British All households ('000s)	Other than White British %	Other than White British Under-occupying households ('000s)	Other than White British All households ('000s)
Up to £99	14	27	196	12	6	53
£100 to £199	27	432	1,576	16	50	314
£200 to £299	34	742	2,164	20	81	400
£300 to £399	37	794	2,144	16	76	470
£400 to £499	37	648	1,749	15	59	392
£500 to £599	38	629	1,648	15	54	364
£600 to £699	40	614	1,548	20	64	326
£700 to £799	42	525	1,258	19	51	265
£800 to £899	45	490	1,095	16	37	232
£900 to £999	43	377	887	20	37	186
£1000 and above	50	2,203	4,439	29	265	917

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Households under-occupying their home Households under-occupying their home by ethnicity and income Summary

This data shows that:

• in all income bands except the lowest (£99 a week or less), White British households were significantly more likely to under-occupy their home than households from all other ethnic groups combined

5. Households under-occupying their home by ethnicity and area

• Location: England
• Time period: 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 (combined)
• Source: English Housing Survey

Percentage and number of households (in thousands) under-occupying their home by ethnicity and area

	White British			Other than White British
Region	White British %	White British Under-occupying households ('000s)	White British All households ('000s)	Other than White British %	Other than White British Under-occupying households ('000s)	Other than White British All households ('000s)
North East	37	400	1,084	18	11	60
North West	38	1,041	2,732	21	75	351
Yorkshire and the Humber	39	782	2,002	20	50	255
East Midlands	41	710	1,711	22	52	236
West Midlands	42	830	1,963	24	91	385
East	42	911	2,179	27	90	334
London	32	558	1,721	16	260	1,654
South East	41	1,329	3,204	24	119	507
South West	43	958	2,221	21	36	172

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Households under-occupying their home Households under-occupying their home by ethnicity and area Summary

The data shows that:

• in every region of England, White British households were more likely to under-occupy their home than households from all other ethnic groups combined

6. Households under-occupying their home by ethnicity and age group

• Location: England
• Time period: 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 (combined)
• Source: English Housing Survey

Percentage and number of households (in thousands) under-occupying their home by ethnicity and age group

	White British			Other than White British
Age group	White British %	White British Under-occupying households ('000s)	White British All households ('000s)	Other than White British %	Other than White British Under-occupying households ('000s)	Other than White British All households ('000s)
16 - 24	12	70	562	8	17	201
25 - 34	20	471	2,364	10	96	944
35 - 44	25	708	2,855	15	168	1,110
45 - 54	35	1,305	3,742	20	162	803
55 - 64	50	1,646	3,295	33	143	436
65 or over	55	3,321	5,998	44	199	458

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Households under-occupying their home Households under-occupying their home by ethnicity and age group Summary

The data shows that:

• across all age groups except 16 to 24 years old, White British households were significantly more likely to under-occupy their home than households from all other ethnic groups combined

7. Households under-occupying their home by ethnicity and type of occupancy (renting or ownership)

• Location: England
• Time period: 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 (combined)
• Source: English Housing Survey

Percentage and number of households (in thousands) under-occupying their home by ethnicity and type of occupancy (renting or ownership)

	White British			Other than White British
Housing tenure	White British %	White British Under-occupying households ('000s)	White British All households ('000s)	Other than White British %	Other than White British Under-occupying households ('000s)	Other than White British All households ('000s)
Owner occupiers	53	6,721	12,749	37	600	1,602
Social rented housing	10	298	3,071	6	50	852
Private rented housing	17	502	2,996	9	134	1,498

Download table data (CSV) Source data (CSV)

Summary of Households under-occupying their home Households under-occupying their home by ethnicity and type of occupancy (renting or ownership) Summary

This data shows that:

• White British households were more likely to under-occupy their home compared with households from all other ethnic groups combined, regardless of whether they owned or rented their home

8. Methodology

The English Housing Survey involves face-to-face interviews with a random sample of about 13,300 households a year.

The dwellings of about 6,000 of the interviewed households are randomly selected to take part in the physical survey element carried out by a qualified surveyor. In addition, a random sample of around 200 of the dwellings identified by the interviewer as vacant are also included in the physical survey element.

Weighting:

Weights are applied to the sample to produce estimates for the 23 million households in England as a whole.

Suppression rules and disclosure control

Estimates based on less than 30 households have not been included in these statistics, because small numbers of households make it impossible to draw meaningful conclusions. The analysis has been done using 2 broad ethnic groups only where broken down by socio-economic group, income, region or age. This prevents small numbers appearing in the table and avoids the potential for identification of individuals.

More detailed data, including some potentially disclosive data, is protected by a range of disclosure controls. See the guidance on English Housing Survey datasets for information accessing this data.

Rounding

Percentages shown in the charts and tables are rounded to the nearest whole number. Download the data to see figures rounded to 1 decimal place.

Figures for the numerator and denominator are weighted and rounded to the nearest whole number in the download files. Therefore, calculations of the percentages using these values may differ to the percentage figures shown on this page, which have been calculated using unrounded figures.

Related publications

English Housing Survey information and publications.

Quality and methodology information

9. Data sources

Source

English Housing Survey

Type of data

Survey data

Type of statistic

National Statistics

Publisher

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Note on corrections or updates

Information published in the EHS headline report and other annual reports is usually based on a 12-month period, rather than the 2 years’ combined data used here. As a result, the statistics shown here may not match those in the EHS reports.

Publication frequency

Yearly

Purpose of data source

The English Housing Survey is a continuous national survey commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It collects information about people’s housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England.

10. Download the data

Households under-occupying their home - Spreadsheet (csv) 17 KB

This file contains the following: ethnicity, time, age group, NS-SEC (socio-economic group), geography, income, region, housing tenure, value, denominator, numerator and sample size

Publication release date: 10 October 2018

full page history

1. 10 October 2018 updated with the latest year's data (2016/17)

From: Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Previous edition:

1. 2 March 2018

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