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- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity and socio-economic group section
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity and income section
- 6. Navigate to By ethnicity and area section
- 7. Navigate to By ethnicity and age group section
- 8. Navigate to By ethnicity and type of occupancy (owning or renting) section
- 9. Navigate toData sources section
- 10. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- in 2014 to 2017, around 679,000 (3%) of the estimated 23 million households in England were overcrowded (that is, they had fewer bedrooms than they needed to avoid undesirable sharing)
- around 2% of White British households experienced overcrowding, compared with 30% of Bangladeshi households (the highest percentage)
- across all socio-economic groups, age groups, most regions and income bands, and regardless of whether they owned or rented their home, White British households were less likely to be overcrowded than households from all other ethnic groups combined
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
This data measures the number and percentage of households that are overcrowded, by ethnic group.
A household is overcrowded if it has fewer bedrooms than it needs to avoid undesirable sharing, based on the age, sex and relationship of household members. For example, one bedroom would be needed by:
- a married or cohabiting couple
- someone aged 21 or over
- 2 children of the same sex aged 10 to 20 years old
- 2 children of any sex under 10 years old
The information relates to households, which is either one person or a group of people sharing cooking facilities and a living room or dining area.
Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number but have been worked out using unrounded numbers.
Not included in the data
Estimates based on fewer than 30 households have not been included. This is because it is harder to make reliable generalisations from smaller numbers of survey respondents.
The ethnic groups used in the data
For data analysed by ethnicity, the 18 standardised ethnic groups from the 2011 Census are shown.
For data analysed by ethnicity and another factor, 2 ethnic groups are shown:
- White British
- Other – all ethnic minority groups (including White minorities)
This is to keep group sizes big enough to be able to make reliable generalisations.
Each household’s ethnic group is the ethnicity of the ‘household reference person’ (usually the named homeowner). There may be people of different ethnicities in the same household.
The ethnicity was known for 99.8% of households.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for this data.
The data is an average for the years ending March 2015, March 2016 and March 2017. This is to make sure there are enough households to be able to make reliable generalisations.
The figures on this page are based on survey data. Find out more about interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed.
In the data file
See Download the data for:
- figures rounded to 1 decimal place
- sample sizes
- weighted figures for the numerator and denominator
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | % | Overcrowded households ('000s) | All households ('000s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asian | |||
| Bangladeshi | 30 | 37 | 121 |
| Chinese | 7 | 9 | 123 |
| Indian | 7 | 35 | 517 |
| Pakistani | 16 | 55 | 338 |
| Asian other | 10 | 20 | 212 |
| Black | |||
| Black African | 15 | 60 | 396 |
| Black Caribbean | 8 | 23 | 284 |
| Black other | 13 | 4 | 34 |
| Mixed | |||
| Mixed White/Asian | 3 | 2 | 59 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 8 | 7 | 78 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 6 | 6 | 97 |
| Mixed other | 3 | 1 | 44 |
| White | |||
| White British | 2 | 306 | 18,816 |
| White Irish | 4 | 8 | 181 |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| White other | 7 | 81 | 1,152 |
| Other | |||
| Arab | 15 | 10 | 69 |
| Any other | 7 | 16 | 240 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Overcrowded households By ethnicity Summary
The number of Gypsy or Irish Traveller households in the data is very small. To avoid disclosing personal information about people in those groups, information about them is not presented in some of the tables and charts.
The data shows that:
- in the 3 years to March 2017, 680,000 (3%) of the 23 million households in England were overcrowded (that is, they had fewer bedrooms than they needed to avoid undesirable sharing)
- Bangladeshi households had the highest rate of overcrowding, at 30% (around 37,000 households)
- 2% of White British households (around 306,000 households) lived in an overcrowded home
4. By ethnicity and socio-economic group
| White British | Other than White British | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socio-economic group | White British % | White British Overcrowded households ('000s) | White British All households ('000s) | Other than White British % | Other than White British Overcrowded households ('000s) | Other than White British All households ('000s) |
| Higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations | 1 | 61 | 7,652 | 6 | 86 | 1,467 |
| Intermediate occupations | 1 | 56 | 3,887 | 10 | 76 | 740 |
| Routine and manual occupations | 3 | 157 | 6,195 | 12 | 156 | 1,346 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and socio-economic group’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and socio-economic group’ (CSV)
Summary of Overcrowded households By ethnicity and socio-economic group Summary
This data shows that:
- in every socio-economic group, White British households were less likely to be overcrowded than households from all other ethnic groups combined
5. By ethnicity and income
| White British | Other than White British | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly income band | White British % | White British Overcrowded households ('000s) | White British All households ('000s) | Other than White British % | Other than White British Overcrowded households ('000s) | Other than White British All households ('000s) |
| Up to £99 | 0 | 0 | 196 | 2 | 1 | 53 |
| £100 to £199 | 1 | 9 | 1,576 | 7 | 22 | 314 |
| £200 to £299 | 1 | 25 | 2,164 | 9 | 37 | 400 |
| £300 to £399 | 1 | 32 | 2,144 | 13 | 59 | 470 |
| £400 to £499 | 2 | 35 | 1,749 | 14 | 55 | 392 |
| £500 to £599 | 2 | 34 | 1,648 | 11 | 42 | 364 |
| £600 to £699 | 2 | 36 | 1,548 | 8 | 27 | 326 |
| £700 to £799 | 2 | 27 | 1,258 | 7 | 20 | 265 |
| £800 to £899 | 2 | 18 | 1,095 | 7 | 16 | 232 |
| £900 to £999 | 2 | 15 | 887 | 10 | 18 | 186 |
| £1000 and above | 2 | 74 | 4,439 | 8 | 73 | 917 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and income’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and income’ (CSV)
Summary of Overcrowded households By ethnicity and income Summary
This data shows that:
- in almost every income band, White British households were less likely to be overcrowded than households from all other ethnic groups combined
6. By ethnicity and area
| White British | Other than White British | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | White British % | White British Overcrowded households ('000s) | White British All households ('000s) | Other than White British % | Other than White British Overcrowded households ('000s) | Other than White British All households ('000s) |
| North East | 2 | 18 | 1,084 | 6 | 4 | 60 |
| North West | 1 | 37 | 2,732 | 9 | 32 | 351 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 1 | 29 | 2,002 | 6 | 14 | 255 |
| East Midlands | 1 | 19 | 1,711 | 9 | 22 | 236 |
| West Midlands | 2 | 36 | 1,963 | 8 | 30 | 385 |
| East | 2 | 35 | 2,179 | 7 | 24 | 334 |
| London | 3 | 48 | 1,721 | 12 | 198 | 1,654 |
| South East | 2 | 51 | 3,204 | 7 | 37 | 507 |
| South West | 2 | 34 | 2,221 | 8 | 13 | 172 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV)
Summary of Overcrowded households By ethnicity and area Summary
This data shows that:
- in almost every region of England, White British households were less likely to be overcrowded than households from all other ethnic groups combined
7. By ethnicity and age group
| White British | Other than White British | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age group | White British % | White British Overcrowded households ('000s) | White British All households ('000s) | Other than White British % | Other than White British Overcrowded households ('000s) | Other than White British All households ('000s) |
| 16 - 24 | 3 | 19 | 562 | 8 | 16 | 201 |
| 25 - 34 | 3 | 65 | 2,364 | 10 | 93 | 944 |
| 35 - 44 | 3 | 85 | 2,855 | 12 | 130 | 1,110 |
| 45 - 54 | 2 | 89 | 3,742 | 11 | 88 | 803 |
| 55 - 64 | 1 | 34 | 3,295 | 7 | 30 | 436 |
| 65 or over | 0 | 14 | 5,998 | 4 | 17 | 458 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and age group’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and age group’ (CSV)
Summary of Overcrowded households By ethnicity and age group Summary
This data shows that:
- across all age groups, White British households were less likely to be overcrowded than households from all other ethnic groups combined
8. By ethnicity and type of occupancy (owning or renting)
| White British | Other than White British | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Housing tenure | White British % | White British Overcrowded households ('000s) | White British All households ('000s) | Other than White British % | Other than White British Overcrowded households ('000s) | Other than White British All households ('000s) |
| Owner occupiers | 1 | 103 | 12,749 | 5 | 80 | 1,602 |
| Social rented housing | 4 | 136 | 3,071 | 15 | 131 | 852 |
| Private rented housing | 2 | 67 | 2,996 | 11 | 163 | 1,498 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and type of occupancy (owning or renting)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and type of occupancy (owning or renting)’ (CSV)
Summary of Overcrowded households By ethnicity and type of occupancy (owning or renting) Summary
This data shows that:
- White British households were less likely to be overcrowded compared with households from all other ethnic groups combined, regardless of whether they owned or rented their home
9. Data sources
Source
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
This file contains the following: ethnicity, time, geography, age group, NS-SEC (socio-economic group), income, region, housing tenure, value, denominator, numerator and sample size