- 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 area section
- 5. Navigate to By ethnicity and income section
- 6. Navigate to By ethnicity and age group section
- 7. Navigate to By ethnicity and socio-economic group section
- 8. Navigate toData sources section
- 9. Navigate toDownload the data section
1. Main facts and figures
- in 2016 to 2018, 17% of households (3.9 million) in England lived in social housing (they rented their home from a local authority or housing association)
- Black African (44%), Mixed White and Black African (41%) and Black Caribbean (40%) households were most likely to rent social housing out of all ethnic groups
- Indian (7%), Chinese (10%), and White Other (11%) households had lower rates of renting social housing
- across most income bands, White British households were less likely to rent social housing than households from all other ethnic groups combined
- in London, White British households were less likely to rent social housing than households from all other ethnic groups combined
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of households in each ethnic group that rent social housing. People usually rent social housing from a local authority or housing association.
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 have been rounded to the nearest whole number.
Not included in the data
Estimates based on fewer than 30 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
This data uses the 18 standardised ethnic groups from the 2011 Census.
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.
Some households contain people from different ethnic backgrounds. Each household’s ethnic group is the ethnicity of the main tenant. For a joint tenancy, the main tenant is the person who is either employed, or unemployed and looking for work. If both tenants have the same employment status, the main tenant 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 2016 to March 2018. 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
- how weighting is used to make survey data more representative of the whole group being studied
In the data file
See Download the data for:
- unrounded percentages
- sample sizes
- weighted figures for the numerator and denominator
- estimates for the previous 2-year period (April 2015 to March 2017)
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | % | Social housing households ('000s) | All households ('000s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All | 17 | 3,950 | 23,160 |
| Asian | |||
| Bangladeshi | 33 | 51 | 152 |
| Chinese | 10 | 11 | 111 |
| Indian | 7 | 41 | 550 |
| Pakistani | 13 | 46 | 358 |
| Asian other | 23 | 44 | 190 |
| Black | |||
| Black African | 44 | 188 | 431 |
| Black Caribbean | 40 | 123 | 308 |
| Black other | 27 | 9 | 32 |
| Mixed | |||
| Mixed White/Asian | 10 | 5 | 52 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 41 | 35 | 85 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 32 | 30 | 93 |
| Mixed other | 24 | 17 | 73 |
| White | |||
| White British | 16 | 3,068 | 18,863 |
| White Irish | 23 | 49 | 213 |
| 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 | 11 | 150 | 1,307 |
| Other | |||
| Arab | 32 | 27 | 83 |
| Any other | 22 | 55 | 250 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Renting social housing By ethnicity Summary
This data shows that:
- in 2016 to 2018, 17% of households (3.9 million) in England lived in social housing (they rented their home from a local authority or housing association)
- 16% of White British households rented social housing
- only Indian (7%), Chinese (10%), and White Other (11%) households were less likely to rent social housing
- households with higher rates of renting social housing were from the Black African (44%), Mixed White and Black African (41%) and Black Caribbean (40%) ethnic groups
4. By ethnicity and area
| White British | Other than White British | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | White British % | White British Social housing households ('000s) | White British All households ('000s) | Other than White British % | Other than White British Social housing households ('000s) | Other than White British All households ('000s) |
| East | 16 | 342 | 2,186 | 14 | 52 | 367 |
| East Midlands | 15 | 251 | 1,688 | 17 | 50 | 289 |
| London | 18 | 303 | 1,660 | 27 | 473 | 1,778 |
| North East | 23 | 250 | 1,090 | 19 | 13 | 68 |
| North West | 17 | 479 | 2,757 | 21 | 80 | 384 |
| South East | 14 | 440 | 3,244 | 11 | 55 | 522 |
| South West | 13 | 298 | 2,269 | 12 | 21 | 175 |
| West Midlands | 18 | 360 | 1,978 | 19 | 77 | 415 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 17 | 345 | 1,992 | 20 | 60 | 299 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and area’ (CSV)
Summary of Renting social housing By ethnicity and area Summary
This data shows that:
- in London, White British households were less likely to rent social housing than households from all other ethnic groups combined
- outside London, White British households were as likely to rent social housing as households from all other ethnic groups combined
5. By ethnicity and income
| White British | Other than White British | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income band | White British % | White British Social housing households ('000s) | White British All households ('000s) | Other than White British % | Other than White British Social housing households ('000s) | Other than White British All households ('000s) |
| Up to £99 | 52 | 93 | 179 | 54 | 22 | 40 |
| £100 to £199 | 46 | 684 | 1,501 | 52 | 161 | 311 |
| £200 to £299 | 32 | 647 | 2,008 | 36 | 153 | 430 |
| £300 to £399 | 25 | 515 | 2,028 | 31 | 140 | 447 |
| £400 to £499 | 18 | 316 | 1,767 | 24 | 88 | 362 |
| £500 to £599 | 15 | 243 | 1,668 | 23 | 98 | 432 |
| £600 to £699 | 12 | 195 | 1,576 | 18 | 66 | 373 |
| £700 to £799 | 9 | 111 | 1,282 | 11 | 31 | 279 |
| £800 to £899 | 6 | 67 | 1,148 | 13 | 37 | 281 |
| £900 to £999 | 6 | 53 | 936 | 12 | 22 | 190 |
| £1000 and above | 3 | 119 | 4,636 | 5 | 57 | 1,117 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and income’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and income’ (CSV)
Summary of Renting social housing By ethnicity and income Summary
This data shows that:
- in most income bands, White British households were less likely to rent social housing than those from all other ethnic groups combined
- the rates of renting social housing were similar for White British households and those from all other ethnic groups combined among households with an income of less than £300 a week, and with an income between £700 and £799 a week
6. By ethnicity and age group
| White British | Other than White British | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age group | White British % | White British Social housing households ('000s) | White British All households ('000s) | Other than White British % | Other than White British Social housing households ('000s) | Other than White British All households ('000s) |
| 16 - 24 | 25 | 146 | 580 | 15 | 30 | 202 |
| 25 - 34 | 19 | 429 | 2,297 | 16 | 160 | 1,009 |
| 35 - 44 | 17 | 458 | 2,773 | 20 | 240 | 1,218 |
| 45 - 54 | 16 | 598 | 3,705 | 22 | 190 | 844 |
| 55 - 64 | 15 | 504 | 3,373 | 26 | 132 | 499 |
| 65 or over | 15 | 931 | 6,136 | 25 | 131 | 526 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and age group’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and age group’ (CSV)
Summary of Renting social housing By ethnicity and age group Summary
The age group assigned to the household is that of the ‘household reference person’ (the person in whose name the home is owned or rented).
This data shows that:
- among people aged 16 to 24, White British householders were more likely to rent social housing than those from all other ethnic groups combined
- among those aged 25 to 44, White British householders were as likely to rent social housing as householders from all other ethnic groups combined
- for those aged 45 and over, White British householders were less likely to rent social housing than those from all other ethnic groups combined
7. By ethnicity and socio-economic group
| White British | Other than White British | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socio-economic group | White British % | White British Social housing households ('000s) | White British All households ('000s) | Other than White British % | Other than White British Social housing households ('000s) | Other than White British All households ('000s) |
| Higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations | 5 | 378 | 7,684 | 10 | 163 | 1,629 |
| Intermediate occupations | 12 | 474 | 3,958 | 19 | 150 | 792 |
| Routine and manual occupations | 31 | 1,837 | 6,010 | 29 | 415 | 1,427 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and socio-economic group’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and socio-economic group’ (CSV)
Summary of Renting social housing By ethnicity and socio-economic group Summary
This data shows that:
- White British households in higher and intermediate occupations were less likely to rent social housing than households from all other ethnic groups combined
- although a higher percentage of White British households in routine occupations rented social housing than households from all other ethnic groups combined, these figures may not be reliable because of the small number of households surveyed
8. Data sources
Source
English Housing Survey 2017 to 2018
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 headline report and other annual reports is based on a single year rather than 2 years' data. As a result, the figures shown here may not match those in the English Housing Survey reports.
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The English Housing Survey collects information about:
- people’s housing circumstances
- the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England
9. Download the data
This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, geography, age group, NS-SEC (socio-economic group), income, region, value, denominator, numerator and sample size -- Please note, the overall percentage of people owning their own home differs when other variables are included in the analysis. This is because there were different response rates for questions about age, income, regions and socio-economic status (NS-SEC). This has resulted in 4 different percentages, sample sizes etc.