Overcrowded households
Published
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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 the 3 years to March 2019, an average of around 787,000 (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 were overcrowded
- the households with the highest rates of overcrowding were in the Bangladeshi (24%), Pakistani (18%), Black African (16%), Arab (15%) and Mixed White and Black African (14%) ethnic groups
- White British households were less likely to be overcrowded than households from all other ethnic groups combined – this was across all socio-economic groups and age groups, most regions and income bands, and regardless of whether they owned or rented their home
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The 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 of either one person or a group of people sharing cooking facilities and a living room or dining area. It must be their main or only home.
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 person responsible for paying the rent or mortgage). 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 3 years from April 2016 to March 2019. 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 | All households |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asian | |||
| Bangladeshi | 24 | 36 | 150 |
| Chinese | 4 | 5 | 124 |
| Indian | 7 | 36 | 551 |
| Pakistani | 18 | 65 | 368 |
| Asian other | 10 | 19 | 202 |
| Black | |||
| Black African | 16 | 71 | 443 |
| Black Caribbean | 7 | 22 | 308 |
| Black other | 3 | 1 | 36 |
| Mixed | |||
| Mixed White/Asian | 4 | 2 | 58 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 14 | 10 | 70 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 8 | 7 | 86 |
| Mixed other | 8 | 6 | 77 |
| White | |||
| White British | 2 | 344 | 18,991 |
| White Irish | 4 | 8 | 207 |
| 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 | 9 | 119 | 1,292 |
| Other | |||
| Arab | 15 | 13 | 87 |
| Any other | 10 | 21 | 220 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Overcrowded households By ethnicity Summary
The data shows that:
- in the 3 years to March 2019, 3% of the 23 million households in England were overcrowded (that is, they had fewer bedrooms than they needed to avoid undesirable sharing)
- the households with the highest rates of overcrowding were in the Bangladeshi (24%), Pakistani (18%), Black African (16%), Arab (15%) and Mixed White and Black African (14%) ethnic groups
- 2% of White British households were overcrowded
4. By ethnicity and socio-economic group
| All | White British | Other than White British | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socio-economic group | All % | All Overcrowded households | All All households | White British % | White British Overcrowded households | White British All households | Other than White British % | Other than White British Overcrowded households | Other than White British All households |
| Higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations | 2 | 151 | 9,466 | 1 | 68 | 7,849 | 5 | 83 | 1,618 |
| Intermediate occupations | 3 | 165 | 4,833 | 2 | 63 | 4,000 | 12 | 102 | 833 |
| Routine and manual occupations | 5 | 371 | 7,321 | 3 | 176 | 5,920 | 14 | 195 | 1,401 |
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
The data shows that:
- in every socio-economic group, White British households were less likely to be overcrowded than ethnic minority households
5. By ethnicity and income
| All | White British | Other than White British | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly income band | All % | All Overcrowded households | All All households | White British % | White British Overcrowded households | White British All households | Other than White British % | Other than White British Overcrowded households | Other than White British All households |
| Up to £99 | 0 | 0 | 199 | 0 | 0 | 159 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| £100 to £199 | 1 | 26 | 1,774 | 1 | 13 | 1,468 | 4 | 13 | 307 |
| £200 to £299 | 3 | 66 | 2,405 | 2 | 34 | 2,011 | 8 | 32 | 395 |
| £300 to £399 | 3 | 73 | 2,462 | 1 | 27 | 2,038 | 11 | 46 | 425 |
| £400 to £499 | 4 | 96 | 2,183 | 3 | 48 | 1,809 | 13 | 49 | 373 |
| £500 to £599 | 5 | 100 | 2,042 | 3 | 44 | 1,642 | 14 | 56 | 400 |
| £600 to £699 | 6 | 107 | 1,920 | 3 | 45 | 1,528 | 16 | 61 | 392 |
| £700 to £799 | 4 | 60 | 1,598 | 2 | 25 | 1,321 | 13 | 35 | 277 |
| £800 to £899 | 3 | 42 | 1,463 | 2 | 18 | 1,167 | 8 | 25 | 296 |
| £900 to £999 | 4 | 41 | 1,129 | 2 | 20 | 930 | 11 | 22 | 199 |
| £1000 and above | 3 | 166 | 5,934 | 1 | 66 | 4,793 | 9 | 99 | 1,141 |
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
The data shows that:
- in all but the lowest income band, White British households were less likely to be overcrowded than ethnic minority households
6. By ethnicity and area
| All | White British | Other than White British | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | All % | All Overcrowded households | All All households | White British % | White British Overcrowded households | White British All households | Other than White British % | Other than White British Overcrowded households | Other than White British All households |
| North East | 2 | 19 | 1,167 | 2 | 17 | 1,097 | 3 | 2 | 69 |
| North West | 3 | 84 | 3,145 | 1 | 40 | 2,754 | 11 | 44 | 392 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 2 | 50 | 2,305 | 2 | 32 | 2,033 | 6 | 18 | 273 |
| East Midlands | 3 | 51 | 1,987 | 2 | 27 | 1,724 | 9 | 24 | 264 |
| West Midlands | 3 | 83 | 2,412 | 2 | 38 | 1,953 | 10 | 46 | 458 |
| East | 2 | 61 | 2,561 | 2 | 38 | 2,203 | 7 | 23 | 358 |
| London | 8 | 285 | 3,464 | 3 | 55 | 1,684 | 13 | 230 | 1,779 |
| South East | 3 | 112 | 3,778 | 2 | 69 | 3,272 | 9 | 43 | 506 |
| South West | 2 | 41 | 2,458 | 1 | 29 | 2,271 | 7 | 12 | 187 |
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
The data shows that:
- in all regions of England except for the North East, White British households were less likely to be overcrowded than ethnic minority households
7. By ethnicity and age group
| All | White British | Other than White British | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age group | All % | All Overcrowded households | All All households | White British % | White British Overcrowded households | White British All households | Other than White British % | Other than White British Overcrowded households | Other than White British All households |
| 16 - 24 | 5 | 39 | 755 | 4 | 20 | 547 | 9 | 19 | 208 |
| 25 - 34 | 5 | 180 | 3,310 | 3 | 71 | 2,334 | 11 | 109 | 976 |
| 35 - 44 | 7 | 268 | 4,015 | 4 | 112 | 2,786 | 13 | 156 | 1,229 |
| 45 - 54 | 4 | 195 | 4,538 | 2 | 87 | 3,684 | 13 | 108 | 854 |
| 55 - 64 | 2 | 73 | 3,921 | 1 | 38 | 3,416 | 7 | 35 | 505 |
| 65 or over | 0 | 32 | 6,738 | 0 | 15 | 6,224 | 3 | 16 | 514 |
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
The data shows that:
- in every age group, White British households were less likely to be overcrowded than ethnic minority households
8. By ethnicity and type of occupancy (owning or renting)
| White British | Other than White British | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Housing tenure | White British % | White British Overcrowded households | White British All households | Other than White British % | Other than White British Overcrowded households | Other than White British All households |
| Owner occupiers | 1 | 96 | 12,971 | 5 | 91 | 1,769 |
| Social rented housing | 6 | 172 | 3,071 | 17 | 146 | 882 |
| Private rented housing | 3 | 76 | 2,949 | 13 | 206 | 1,635 |
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
The data shows that:
- White British households were less likely to be overcrowded than ethnic minority households, regardless of whether they owned or rented their home
9. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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 homes in England.
10. Download the data
Measure, Time, Time_type, Ethnicity, Ethnicity_type, Geography, Tenure, Age_group, NS-SEC, Income_band, Region, Value, Numerator, Denominator, Sample_size