Spending on renting or buying a house
Published
- 1. Navigate toMain facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toThings you need to know section
- 3. Navigate to By ethnicity (spending on rent) section
- 4. Navigate to By ethnicity (spending on mortgages) section
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity (financial help from family) section
- 6. Navigate to By ethnicity (deposits paid by first time buyers) section
- 7. Navigate toData sources section
- 8. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- in the 2 years to March 2023, White British households who rented their homes spent 28% of their weekly income on rent payments – the lowest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- among households that owned their own home, those from the Mixed White and Asian ethnic group spent 34% of their weekly income on mortgage payments, the highest out of all ethnic groups -Black Caribbean households spent 14% (the lowest)
- the highest percentage of homeowners to have financial help from family members to buy a home were from Indian (17%) and Pakistani (15%) ethnic groups – results from the Chinese (31%) and Asian Other (21%) ethnic groups are based on small numbers of households and are unreliable as a result
- out of ethnic groups with reliable results, White Other (£47,231) and White British (£46,449) first-time buyers paid the highest deposits
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data measures;
- the percentage of total household income spent on rent and mortgages, by ethnicity
- the percentage of homeowners who were given financial help by family members to buy a home
- the average deposit paid by first-time buyers when buying a home in England
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 for household income spent on mortgages and rent are based on total household income before tax and National Insurance is deducted (‘gross’ income). For households renting their home, income includes Housing Benefit.
Percentages in the charts and tables rounded to whole numbers but have been worked out using unrounded numbers.
Not included in the data
The data does not include homes bought through shared ownership schemes. This is because these households pay both a mortgage and rent.
Estimates based on fewer than 5 households have not been included. This is to protect people’s confidentiality, and because it is harder to make reliable generalisations from smaller numbers of survey respondents.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for the 18 ethnic groups used in the 2011 Census.
Data is based on the ethnicity of the 'household reference person'. This is usually the person responsible for the tenancy or mortgage. If there are joint owners or tenants, it is the person with the highest income. If they have the same income, it is the oldest person.
The data does not account for people of different ethnic backgrounds who live in the same household.
Ethnicity was known for 99.8% of households.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
The data is an average for the 2 years from April 2021 to March 2023. This is to make sure there are enough households to be able to make reliable generalisations. You can read more about combining multiple years of data and some of the issues involved.
The figures are based on survey data. Find out more about:
- interpreting survey data, including how reliability is affected by the number of people surveyed
- how weighting is used to make survey data more representative of the whole group being studied
In the data files
Download the data for:
- the percentage of total household income spent on rent, by ethnicity
- the percentage of total household income spent on mortgages, by ethnicity
- the percentage of homeowners who were given financial help by family members to buy a home
- the average deposit paid by first-time buyers when buying a home in England
- unweighted sample households
- breakdowns by income bands, age group and socio-economic group
3. By ethnicity (spending on rent)
| Ethnicity | % |
|---|---|
| All | 30 |
| Asian | 36 |
| Bangladeshi | 34 |
| Chinese | 56 |
| Indian | 32 |
| Pakistani | 29 |
| Asian other | 43 |
| Black | 30 |
| Black African | 30 |
| Black Caribbean | 30 |
| Black other | 32 |
| Mixed | 36 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 42 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 38 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 28 |
| Mixed other | 37 |
| White | 29 |
| White British | 28 |
| White Irish | 33 |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | 33 |
| White other | 31 |
| Other | 36 |
| Arab | 43 |
| Any other | 35 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (spending on rent)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (spending on rent)’ (CSV)
4. By ethnicity (spending on mortgages)
| Ethnicity | % |
|---|---|
| All | 19 |
| Asian | 20 |
| Bangladeshi | 27 |
| Chinese | 18 |
| Indian | 19 |
| Pakistani | 19 |
| Asian other | 25 |
| Black | 21 |
| Black African | 25 |
| Black Caribbean | 14 |
| Black other | 15 |
| Mixed | 24 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 34 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 15 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 19 |
| Mixed other | 19 |
| White | 19 |
| White British | 18 |
| White Irish | 20 |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| White other | 23 |
| Other | 23 |
| Arab | 20 |
| Any other | 24 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (spending on mortgages)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (spending on mortgages)’ (CSV)
5. By ethnicity (financial help from family)
| Ethnicity | % | Number of households that received financial help ('000s) | All households ('000s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All | 8 | 1,166 | 14,243 |
| Asian | 18 | 143 | 816 |
| Bangladeshi | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 45 |
| Chinese | 31 | 20 | 65 |
| Indian | 17 | 76 | 439 |
| Pakistani | 15 | 26 | 180 |
| Asian other | 21 | 18 | 87 |
| Black | 8 | 14 | 187 |
| Black African | 12 | 13 | 107 |
| Black Caribbean | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 72 |
| Black other | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Mixed | 13 | 18 | 139 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 13 | 7 | 54 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 32 |
| Mixed other | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 34 |
| White | 8 | 983 | 12,969 |
| White British | 8 | 927 | 12,414 |
| White Irish | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 84 |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| White other | 11 | 52 | 465 |
| Other | 6 | 8 | 131 |
| Arab | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | 12 |
| Any other | 5 | 6 | 118 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (financial help from family)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (financial help from family)’ (CSV)
6. By ethnicity (deposits paid by first time buyers)
| Ethnicity | £ |
|---|---|
| All | 46,909 |
| Asian | 52,305 |
| Bangladeshi | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Chinese | 94,531 |
| Indian | 41,196 |
| Pakistani | 29,324 |
| Asian other | 74,584 |
| Black | 29,289 |
| Black African | 36,330 |
| Black Caribbean | 21,201 |
| Black other | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Mixed | 52,948 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 64,954 |
| Mixed White/Black African | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 30,877 |
| Mixed other | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| White | 46,396 |
| White British | 46,449 |
| White Irish | 32,397 |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | 0 |
| White other | 47,231 |
| Other | 54,223 |
| Arab | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| Any other | 55,722 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity (deposits paid by first time buyers)’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity (deposits paid by first time buyers)’ (CSV)
7. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Note on corrections or updates
Information published in the English Housing Survey 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 English Housing Survey reports.
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The English Housing Survey is a continuous national survey. It collects information about people’s housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England.
8. Download the data
measure time time_type ethnicity ethnicity_type geography nssec income_band region age_group value sample_size
measure time time_type ethnicity ethnicity_type geography nssec income_band region age_group value sample_size
measure time time_type ethnicity ethnicity_type geography nssec income_band region age_group value numerator denominator sample_size
measure time time_type ethnicity ethnicity_type geography nssec income_band region age_group value sample_size