National statistics

English Housing Survey 2021 to 2022: leasehold households

Published 13 July 2023

Applies to England

Introduction and main findings

The English Housing Survey (EHS) is a national survey of people’s housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England. It is one of the longest standing government surveys and was first run in 1967.

Impact of COVID-19 on the English Housing Survey

The 2021-22 English Housing Survey data was collected toward the end of the period of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This necessitated a change in the established survey mode. Face-to-face interviews were replaced with telephone interviews and internal inspections of properties were replaced with external inspections, where the inspection was restricted to an assessment of the exterior of the dwelling and supplemented by information about the interior of the dwelling the surveyor collected (socially distanced) at the doorstep.

There were also some data we were unable to collect at all, in which case predictive modelled estimates at dwelling level were produced to supplement the ‘external plus’ inspection and indicate whether or not a dwelling: had damp problems; had any Category 1 hazards assessed through the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS); or met the Decent Homes Standard. In these instances, we have been able to model data to provide headline figures for this report. We indicate where this has been done at the beginning of each topic area. Additionally, as interviewers were unable to identify vacant dwellings in the 2020-21 data collection year, and dwelling level data includes two survey years, all dwelling estimates for this report are based on occupied dwellings only.

More information on the impact of COVID-19 on the English Housing Survey and the modelling methodology can be found in Annex 5.5 of the Technical Report.

This report

There are different ways households can own their house or flat. Two of the most common types of ownership are freehold and leasehold. Freeholders own the property and the land it stands on, either with or without a mortgage. Leaseholder owner occupiers, who can also own their home with or without a mortgage, do not own the land and typically pay a service charge and ground rent. They have the right to occupation and use of their home for a long period, known as the ‘term’ of the lease and the lease can be bought and sold during this term.

This report focuses on both owner occupier leaseholders and renters in leasehold properties. Households were identified as leasehold households by matching the EHS data to the Land Registry title register data.

The report has three chapters. The first provides a profile of leasehold households split by tenure, including how they compare to non-leasehold households. In particular, it examines the demographic characteristics of leasehold households, satisfaction with accommodation and the type and location of their homes.

Chapter 2 provides an overview of the financial circumstances of leasehold households. It looks at employment status, income, amount of savings and the proportion of income spent on housing costs.

Chapter 3 focuses on leasehold dwellings, rather than households, and examines the area, energy efficiency, and heating system of leasehold dwellings and also reports on year of purchase, length of lease and maintenance responsibility for owner occupier leaseholders.

Main findings

Of the 24 million households in England, 4 million (one sixth) live in leasehold properties. Most leasehold households are owner occupiers, followed by private renters. Few leasehold households live in the social rented sector.

• More than half (57%) of leasehold households are in the owner-occupied sector, 36% were in the private rented sector and the remaining 6% were in the social rented sector.

Likely due to the higher incidence of flats in the capital, London has a higher proportion of households living in leasehold properties than the rest of England.

• More than a quarter of households in London (28%) live in leasehold properties. This was higher than the proportion of households in the rest of England (15%) who live in leasehold properties.

The profile of owner occupier leaseholders is different in London compared with the rest of England.

• In London, owner occupier leaseholders were more likely to be buying their property with a mortgage (62%) than own it outright (38%). Comparatively, in the rest of England they were less likely to own with a mortgage (44%) and more likely to own it outright (56%).

Leaseholders are frequently first time buyers when they purchase their current home – this is particularly the case for owner occupier leaseholders in London.

• Nearly half (49%) of all owner occupier leaseholders are still living in the home they purchased as a first time buyer. When looking at mortgagers only, this increased to 64%, compared with 35% of those who owned their property outright.
• These proportions were higher for those in London, where 81% of mortgagers and 51% of outright owners were first time buyers, compared to 59% of mortgagers and 33% of outright owner leaseholders in the rest of England.

Service charges were significantly higher in London, where leaseholders were also more likely to be paying into a reserve fund to cover repairs and maintenance.

• The average service charge in London (£42 weekly; £2,207 annually) was significantly greater than in the rest of England (£27 weekly; £1,384 annually).
• Leaseholders in London were also more likely to be paying into a reserve fund to cover repairs and maintenance (38%) than those in the rest of England (26%).

Owner occupied leasehold properties were more likely to be located in suburban residential areas than in the city or other urban areas. The reverse was the case for private rented leasehold dwellings.

• Over half (54%) of owner occupied leasehold dwellings were located in suburban residential areas, a larger proportion than the 38% in city and other urban centres and the 8% in rural areas.
• Conversely, 55% of privately rented leaseholds were found in urban areas, a larger proportion than in suburban areas (41%) and rural areas (4%).

Leasehold dwellings are more likely than non-leasehold properties to be in the highest three energy efficiency bands. Leasehold flats were more likely to have high energy efficiency ratings than leasehold houses.

• Three fifths of leasehold properties (60%) were in EER bands A-C. This compared to 47% in the country as a whole.
• Two thirds (66%) of leasehold flats were rated EER bands A-C, compared with leasehold 45% of leasehold houses.

A leasehold household who purchased their current home before 2003 was more likely to buy a house than a flat. For those who bought their current home from 2003 onwards, purchase of flats was generally more common.

• Between 65% and 76% of those who bought their property before 2003 purchased a house, compared to 24% to 35% of households who purchased their current property from 2003 onwards purchased a flat.

Acknowledgements and further queries

Each year the English Housing Survey relies on the contributions of a large number of people and organisations. The Department for Levelling Up. Housing and Communities (DLUHC) would particularly like to thank the following people and organisations, without whom the 2021-22 survey and this report, would not have been possible: all the households who gave up their time to take part in the survey, NatCen Social Research, the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and CADS Housing Surveys.

This report was produced by Thomas McCutcheon at BRE and Monica Bennett at NatCen Social Research in collaboration with DLUHC. If you have any queries about this report, would like any further information or have suggestions for analyses you would like to see included in future EHS reports, please contact ehs@levellingup.gov.uk.

The responsible analyst for this report is: Stephen Pottinger, Housing and Planning Analysis Division, DLUHC. Contact via ehs@levellingup.gov.uk.

1. Demographics of leasehold households

This chapter will provide a demographic profile of households in leasehold properties. This includes owner occupier leaseholders and private and social renters living in leasehold properties. Owner occupiers will be discussed as a whole, however, where there are key differences between outright owners and owners buying with a mortgage, these will be highlighted.

This chapter reports on leasehold household demographic characteristics, as well as satisfaction with their accommodation and the type and location of their homes. It also includes some regional comparisons (London vs the rest of England) and comparisons to non-leasehold households. As the focus here is on households, this chapter uses the household (rather than dwelling) weight to scale up to the number of households in England.

In 2021-22, there were an estimated 24.2 million households in England living in self-contained accommodation. Approximately one sixth (4 million) of households were living in leasehold properties. However, in London more than a quarter of households in (28%) lived in leasehold properties. This was higher than the proportion of households in the rest of England (15%) who lived in leasehold properties. Annex Table 1.1.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities also publishes the Leasehold Dwellings estimate, which gives different counts than this report. For 2021-22, it estimates there are 4.98 million leasehold dwellings in England.

The counts given in this report are fewer, and we would expect them to be smaller for a few reasons. First, the Leasehold Dwellings estimate will include vacant properties (those that are not occupied at the time of survey, whether long-term vacant, or unoccupied between resident moves). This report will not include vacant properties for either household or dwelling counts. Household counts would ordinarily exclude vacant homes, and we were unable to account for vacant dwellings in 2021-22 due to changes in data collection as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Furthermore, as the data sources were designed for different purposes, they have different weighting applied. The EHS data has been designed to be representative of English households and dwellings as a whole. Conversely, the weighting for the Leasehold Dwellings estimate focuses on the balance between houses and flats in particular, as this is one of the main predictors of leasehold status. Given this, we would expect discrepancies in the totals produced by the two methods.

While the counts in this report are our best estimate based on the data available, and we are confident that proportions are robust, the Leasehold Dwellings estimate should be treated as the authoritative source on the number of leasehold dwellings in England.

Overall, 57% of leasehold households were in the owner-occupied sector and 36% were in the private rented sector. The remaining 6% were in the social rented sector.

Within London, there was a similar proportion of owner occupied (44%) and private rented (48%) leasehold households, though still relatively few in the social rented sector (8%). Outside of London, leasehold households were more likely to be in the owner-occupied sector (62%) than in the private rented sector (33%) or the social rented sector (6%), Annex Table 1.2.

Due to small sample sizes, the following chapters will not report on detailed regional comparisons for leasehold households in the social rented sector.

Demographic characteristics

Age

The age distribution of people in leasehold properties is based on the age of the Household Reference Person (HRP). The pattern of findings for leasehold households generally reflects that found for households overall.

Leasehold households generally have younger HRPs than non-leasehold households. There was a significantly higher proportion of 25-34 year olds in leasehold households in both the owner occupied sector (14%) and social rented sector (28%) than in non-leasehold households overall (8% and 13%, respectively). There was also a higher proportion of leasehold households with a HRP aged between 25 and 34 in the private rented sector (37%) than non-leasehold households (31%), Annex Table 1.3.

The average age of owner occupier leaseholders was 56 years old. This significantly varied from an average age of 43 for owners buying with a mortgage to 69 among outright owners. HRPs in privately rented leasehold households were the youngest, with a mean age of 39, while the average for social renters was 48.

With respect to age groups, leasehold owner occupiers were the most likely to be 65 or over (37%). There was a significantly smaller proportion of 16-24 and 25-34 year olds in the owner-occupied sector (1% and 14%, respectively). As with overall age patterns across tenure, the private rented sector had a higher proportion of households in the 16-24 and 25-34 age groups (12% and 37%, respectively), as did social renter sector (5% and 28%), though not to the same degree. No differences between tenures were found for the other age groups, Annex Table 1.3 and Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 Age of leasehold households by tenure, 2021-22

^{Base: all leasehold households
Note: underlying data are presented in Annex Table 1.3
Source: 2021-22 English Housing Survey, full household sample}

The greatest proportion of owner occupiers in London were aged 30 to 44 (42%), whereas in the rest of England the greatest proportion were aged 65 or over (40%). The proportion of owner occupiers aged 16 to 29 and 45 to 64 did not vary by location. No regional differences were found for leasehold households in the private rented sector, Annex Table 1.4.

In line with the above findings on age, 18,000 (36%) of leasehold households in the social-rented sector were in sheltered accommodation. 87,000 (10%) of leaseholder owner occupiers and none of those in the private-rented sector were in sheltered accommodation, Annex Table 1.12.

Gender and sexual orientation

In line with wider findings across all households, the majority of the HRPs of leasehold households in the owner occupied and private rented sector were male (54% and 57%, respectively), whereas the majority in the social rented sector were female (52%).

The proportion of LGB+ HRP’s did not significantly vary across tenures, ranging from 4 to 8%, Annex Table 1.3.

Ethnicity

Of those in leasehold properties, HRPs in the owner-occupied sector were less likely to be from an ethnic minority background (11%) than those in the private rented sector (28%) or social rented sector (36%). These differences are influenced by tenure, and, therefore, are found for all households, not just leasehold households.

Highest level of education

Almost four in ten (39%) owner occupier leaseholders and over half (55%) of private renters in leasehold properties had a HRP and/or partner with a degree or higher qualification. Nearly one fifth (18%) of social renters in leasehold properties had a degree or higher qualification. This pattern of findings is congruent with those found for all households overall and are therefore influenced by tenure. However, leasehold households in the private rented sector were more likely to have a degree or higher qualification than non-leasehold households in this sector.

Disability

Of those in leasehold properties, approximately one quarter of households in the owner-occupied (26%) and private-rented sector (23%) had someone with a long-term illness or disability. There was a significantly greater proportion in the social-rented sector (44%).

Compared to non-leasehold households, both leasehold households in the owner occupied (95% level of significance) and private rented sector were less likely to have someone in the household with a long-term illness or disability. This is likely related to the younger average age of those in leasehold properties, and the increased likelihood of someone in an older household reporting a long-term illness or disability.

Satisfaction with current accommodation

The vast majority of leasehold households reported being satisfied with their accommodation. Owner occupiers were more likely to be satisfied (91%) than both private (83%) and social renters in leasehold properties (77%), who did not differ in levels of satisfaction.

This reflects wider findings that overall, people were more satisfied with their accommodation if they own their property (see Headline report). However, owner occupier leaseholders were generally less likely to be satisfied with their accommodation (91%) than other owner occupiers (94%; significant at the 95% level).

Religion

The proportion of households in leasehold properties who had no religion ranged from 41-47% across the tenures, with no significant differences found. The proportion who were Christian ranged from 43-50% with no higher proportion of any other religion in any particular tenure. Annex Table 1.3.

Marital status

Those in leasehold households were more likely to be single in London (59%) than in the rest of England (39%).

Owner occupier leaseholders in London were more likely to be single (53%) than in the rest of England (32%). Consequently, a lower proportion were married or in a civil partnership (26% in London and 36% in the rest of England). It is worth noting that individuals would need to be earning more if they were single and had a mortgage.

A higher proportion of leasehold households in the private rented sector in London were also single (63%) compared to those in the rest of England (51%). However, the proportion of private renters who were married or in a civil partnership were similar regardless of region (29% in London and 25% in the rest of England), Annex Table 1.5.

Similar proportions of private and social renters in leasehold properties were single (55% and 49%, respectively) or married or in a civil partnership (26% and 19%, respectively). In comparison, owner occupiers were less likely to be single (36%) and more likely to married or in a civil partnership (34%).

Leasehold households in the owner-occupied sector were more likely to be single (36%) than other owner occupiers (18%) and consequently less likely to be married or in a civil partnership. Marital status of private or social renters in leasehold properties did not differ to those in non-leasehold properties.

Household type

Owner occupier leaseholders were more likely to be one person households (48%) than leasehold households in the private rented sector (40%). No regional differences were found for owner occupier leaseholders, however, private renters were less likely to be one person households in London (33%) than in the rest of England (43%), Annex Table 1.6.

Figure 1.2 Household type by tenure, 2021-22

^{Base: all leasehold households
Note: underlying data are presented in Annex Table 1.6
Source: 2021-22 English Housing Survey, full household sample}

Length of residence in dwelling

In line with overall tenure trends, owner occupier leaseholders had generally lived in their home for a longer length of time, with a mean of 14 years. Both private (4 years) and social renters (8 years) had lived in their current home for a significantly shorter time, Annex Table 1.7.

Almost one quarter (24%) of private renters living in leasehold dwellings had lived in their home for less than a year, over half (55%) had lived there for less two years or less and just 12% for 10 years or more. In contrast, nearly half of owner occupier leaseholders (47%) had lived in their home for at least 10 years, while under one fifth (18%) had lived there for two years or less, Figure 1.2.

Figure 1.3 Length of residence in dwelling by tenure, 2021-22

^{Base: all leasehold households
Note: underlying data are presented in Annex Table 1.7
Source: 2021-22 English Housing Survey, full household sample}

Ownership features

Mortgage status

Overall, 52% of owner occupier leaseholders owned their home outright, while the remaining 48% were buying with a mortgage.

Of those in leasehold properties in London, 62% were buying property with a mortgage and 38% owned it outright. Owner occupier leaseholders in the rest of England were less likely to own the property with a mortgage (44%) but more likely to own it outright (56%), Annex Table 1.8.

First time buyers

Half of all owner occupier leaseholders (49%) were first-time buyers. Unsurprisingly, owner occupier leaseholders with a mortgage were more likely to be first time buyers (64%) than those who own their property outright (35%), Figure 1.4.

Intuitively, owner occupiers buying with a mortgage were more likely to be first time buyers in London than in the rest of England. Eight in ten (81%) of those buying with a mortgage in London were first time buyers, compared to 59% of those buying with a mortgage in the rest of England. Just over half (51%) of outright owners in London were first time buyers, compared to one third (33%) of those in the rest of England, Annex Table 1.9.

Figure 1.4 First time buyer status, 2021-22

^{Base: all owner occupier leaseholders
Note: underlying data are presented in Annex Table 1.9
Source: 2021-22 English Housing Survey, full household sample}

Accommodation location and level of deprivation

Looking at the breakdown by tenure, leasehold properties in the owner-occupied sector showed a fairly even spread of households across levels of deprivation; 6% were in the most deprived decile and 7% were in the least deprived decile. Similar proportions of leasehold households in the private rented sector were in the most (7%) and least (6%) deprived areas, however, the highest proportions were in the 2nd (14%) and 3rd (16%) most deprived areas.

Of those in those in the social rented sector, more than half (52%) were in the two most deprived areas, with almost three in ten (27%) in the most deprived 10% of areas. No leasehold households in the social rented sector were in the least 10% deprived of areas, Annex Table 1.10.

By region, leasehold households in the North West were more likely to be in the most deprived 10% of areas than they are in other regions. Conversely, leasehold households in the South East were more likely to be in the 10% least deprived local areas compared to households in other regions, Annex Table 1.11. It should be noted that comparisons cannot be made to the North East due to small sample sizes.

2. Financial profile of leasehold households

This chapter provides an overview of the financial circumstances of leasehold households in the owner occupied, and private and social rented sectors. It looks at employment status, average income, amount of savings, and the proportion of income spent on housing costs. It also looks at regional differences, comparing those within London with those in the rest of England.

Employment status

Overall, 67% of HRPs in leasehold households were working, while 33% were either unemployed or inactive (either retired, in full-time education or other inactive status).

Of those in leasehold properties in the owner-occupied sector, 60% were working and 39% were inactive. In the private and social rented sectors, 81% and 51% were working, and 15% and 40% were inactive, respectively, Annex Table 2.1.

Owner occupier leaseholders in London were more likely to be in work (75%) and less likely to be inactive (25%) than those in the rest of England (57% in work and 42% inactive). No regional differences were found for households in leasehold properties in the private rented sector.

Financial status

Average weekly income

Of those in leasehold properties, the average weekly gross household income was £876 (median £667) among all owner occupier leaseholds. Owner occupiers buying with a mortgage had a greater income (mean £1,157, median £890) than outright owners (mean £621, median £518).

The average weekly gross household income was £799 (median £685) among private renters and £430 (median £338) among social renters in leasehold properties, Annex Table 2.2.

Households in London generally had a higher income than those in the rest of England, and this is also reflected here. Owner occupier leaseholders buying with a mortgage in London had an average weekly household income of £1,778 (median £1,198) compared to £945 (median £797) in the rest of England. Average weekly income did not vary by region for outright owner occupiers in leasehold properties. However, as expected, leasehold households in the private rented sector in London had a higher average weekly household income (mean £1,083, median £879) than in the rest of England (mean £657, median £603).

Figure 2.1 Leasehold households’ average (mean) weekly income by region and tenure, 2021-22

^{Base: all leasehold households
Note: underlying data are presented in Annex Table 2.2
Source: 2021-22 English Housing Survey, full household sample}

Income quintiles

One in five (19%) owner occupier leaseholders were in the highest income quintile, a further 20% and 25% were in the second highest and the middle-income quintiles, respectively. Annex Table 2.3. Similar proportions were found for private renters in leasehold properties (16%, 23% and 26%, respectively). Conversely, the majority of social renters in leasehold properties were in the lowest (43%), or second lowest (31%) income quintiles.

Owner occupier leaseholders outside of London were more likely to be in the lowest income quintile (17%) and less likely to be in the highest income quintile (16%) than those in London (8% in the lowest and 33% in the highest income quintile). A similar pattern was found for those in the private rented sector, Annex Table 2.3.

Figure 2.2: Leasehold household income quintiles by region and tenure, 2021-22

^{Base: all owner occupiers
Note: underlying data are presented in Annex Table 2.3
Source: 2021-22 English Housing Survey, full household sample}

Savings

Of those in leasehold properties in the owner-occupied sector, almost one quarter (23%) reported having no savings, while almost four in ten (39%) reported having more than £5,000 in savings. Overall, 10% reported having £50,000 or more in savings.

In line with wider findings on all households, those in the rented sectors were less likely to have savings. Of those in leasehold properties in the private rented sector, 42% reported having no savings and almost three in ten (28%) reported having more than £5,000 in savings. Overall, 7% reported having £50,000 or more in savings.

Almost three quarters (72%) of leasehold households in the social rented sector reported having no savings, while 6% had savings between £5,000 and £16,000.

There were few regional differences, however, owner occupier leaseholders in London were less likely to have no savings (12%) than those in the rest of England (26%), Annex Table 2.4.

Proportion of income spent on mortgage

The remainder of this chapter will focus only on owner occupier leaseholders.

Proportion of income spent on mortgage is based on household income, which includes all adults in the household. Outright owners are excluded as they have no mortgage costs.

Owner occupier leaseholders spent an average of one fifth (19%) of their household income on their mortgage. This proportion did not significantly differ by region and did not significantly differ from the 20% found in 2020-21 (English Housing Survey, 2020 to 2021: owner occupier leaseholders report), Annex Table 2.5.

Service charges and ground rent payments

The average (mean) weekly service charge for owner occupier leaseholders was £32 (equivalent to an annual amount of £1,668; weekly median £23). The average weekly service charge in London was £42 (£2,207 annually), significantly greater than in the rest of England, £27 (£1,384 annually), Annex Table 2.6.

The average weekly ground rent was £6 (equivalent to an annual amount of £298; weekly median £2). There was no significant difference in the average ground rent amount between London (£8) and the rest of England (£5), Annex Table 2.7.

Whether leaseholder pays into a reserve fund

Overall, three in ten (29%) owner occupier leaseholders report paying into a reserve fund to cover repairs and maintenance. Owner occupiers in London were more likely to be paying into a reserve fund (38%) than those in the rest of England (26%), Annex Table 2.8.

3. Characteristics of leasehold dwellings

This chapter will examine the area, energy efficiency rating and main heating system of 4.3 million occupied leasehold dwellings broken down by tenure. It then reports on the year of purchase, length of lease and maintenance responsibility for owner occupier leaseholders broken down by houses and flats. Lastly, the chapter profiles the ownership of the freehold for leaseholders living in flats.

Dwelling characteristics by tenure

In this section the analysis of leasehold properties uses the EHS paired interview and physical survey data. As a result, the totals for each tenure will differ from the tenure totals in Chapter 1 of this report.

Area

Around half (54%) of owner occupied leasehold dwellings were located in suburban residential areas, a larger proportion than the 38% in city and other urban centres and the 8% in rural areas, Annex Table 3.1.

Conversely, 55% of privately rented leaseholds were found in urban areas, a larger proportion than in suburban areas (41%) and rural areas (4%). This profile of private rented leasehold dwellings differs from the whole private rented stock where 42% of privately rented dwelling were located in urban areas and 47% in suburban residential (EHS Headline Report 2021-22).

Energy efficiency rating (EER)

The EHS uses the Government’s Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) to monitor the energy efficiency of homes, through the calculation of a SAP energy efficiency rating (EER). The EER is also converted into an A to G banding system, where band A represents high energy efficiency and band G represents low energy efficiency. The EER is the primary rating presented on an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC).

The majority of leasehold dwellings (60%) received a SAP rating in EER bands A to C, a larger proportion than the 33% rated in band D and the 8% in bands E to G. This pattern held for all tenures, Annex Table 3.1.

Among leasehold dwellings, the proportion in bands A to C was higher when compared with the whole dwelling stock (47%, see Energy Report). This is likely due to the high proportion of flats in the EHS leasehold sample: 2.9 million flats and only 1.4 million houses or bungalows, Annex Table 3.2.

Of the 2.9 million flats, 66% received A to C EER, 26% received D ratings and 8% received E to G ratings. For houses and bungalows, 45% were rated A to C, 48% rated D and 7% rated E to G which more closely matches the proportions within all dwellings (EHS Headline report Annex Table 2.8).

The proportion of owner occupied leasehold dwellings rated in band D (37%) was higher than the proportion of privately or socially rented dwellings in band D (27% and 22% respectively), Annex Table 3.1.

Of leasehold dwellings in the private rented sector, 64% were rated in bands A to C, which was a greater proportion than the 57% of owner occupied dwellings in those bands.

Looking at dwellings with the poorest energy efficiency, a larger proportion of leasehold homes in the social rented sector (15%) were in bands E to G than those which were owner occupied (6%). Within the private rented sector, 9% of leasehold dwellings were rated in bands E to G.

Figure 3.1: Leasehold dwellings with an EER of A to C, by tenure, 2021

^{Base: all leasehold dwellings
Note: underlying data are presented in Annex Table 3.1
Source: English Housing Survey, dwelling sample}

Heating system

Across leasehold dwellings of all tenures, boiler systems with radiators (71%) were more common than storage radiators (16%), which were more common than room heaters or other heating systems (8%) and communal heating systems (6%).

A smaller proportion of privately rented leasehold dwellings (62%) contained a boiler system with radiators than owner occupied (76%) or socially rented (75%) leasehold dwellings, Annex Table 3.1.

Storage heaters made up a larger proportion of heating systems in privately rented leasehold dwellings (21%) than in owner occupied or socially rented leasehold dwellings (13% and 11% respectively).

Leasehold dwellings of all tenures were less likely to have a boiler system with radiators (62% to 76%) than dwellings in the general stock (85% to 93%) [Add link to energy report]. Some of this difference can be attributed to the large proportion of flats in the leasehold stock.

Characteristics of the lease

This section uses the full household interview sample and reports on when leaseholds were purchased, how long was left on the lease at the time of purchase and the maintenance responsibility of the leasehold for flats and houses. For leasehold flats, it investigates who owns the freehold of the building. All questions in this section were only asked of owner occupiers identified by the English Housing Survey as leaseholders.

Year of purchase of current home

The proportion of leaseholders in houses who purchased their current house before 1987 (18%) was greater than the proportion who bought between 1998 and 2002 (9%), 2003 to 2007 (9%) and 2008 to 2012 (7%). From 2013, however, the proportion of leaseholders purchasing houses increased, with 22% purchasing between 2013 and 2017 and 20% purchasing post 2017, Figure 3.2.

More than half of leaseholders living in flats either purchased their property between 2013 and 2017 (26%) or from 2018 (33%), both of which are higher proportions than the households who bought before 1987 (5%), between 1988 and 1997 (6%), between 1998 and 2002 (5%), between 2003 and 2007 (15%), or between 2008 and 2012 (10%).

Figure 3.2: Houses and flats, by leasehold year of purchase, 2021-22

^{Base: owner occupied leasehold households
Note: underlying data are presented in Annex Table 3.3
Source: English Housing Survey: full household sample}

If a household bought their home before 2003, they more likely bought a house (65% to 76%) than a flat (24% to 35%). From 2003 onwards, they were more likely to have bought a flat (61% to 65%) than a house (35% to 39%) with 2013 to 2017 a slight exception to this trend, where the difference was not significant, Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3: Leasehold year of purchase, by houses and flats, 2021-22

^{Base: owner occupied leasehold households
Note: underlying data are presented in Annex Table 3.4
Source: English Housing Survey: full household sample}

Length of lease at time of purchase

Almost three quarters (73%) of all leasehold dwellings had 99 or more years on the lease at the time of purchase. Within those 73%, an even split had leases with 99 to 125 years (37%), or more than 125 years (37%) left on the lease, Annex Table 3.5.

Of leaseholders who bought houses, 80% bought these with longer than 99 years left on the lease: 44% had 126 years or more on the lease and 36% had leases between 99 and 125 years. These proportions are larger than the 4% who bought with less than 21 years on the lease, the 5% who had between 21 and 79 years on the lease and the 11% who bought with 80 to 98 years on the lease.

Of leaseholders in flats, 70% bought when the lease had longer than 99 years left: 33% had longer than 126 years at the time of purchase and 37% had between 99 and 125 years both of which are greater than the 10% who had between 21 and 79 years on the lease and the 20% who had between 80 and 98 years on the lease.

The proportion of houses with 126 years or more on the lease at the time of purchase (44%) was larger than the proportion of flats with 126 years or more on the lease at the time of purchase (33%). Conversely, the proportion of flats with 80 to 98 years left on the lease at the time of purchase (20%) was larger than the proportion of houses in that same time band (11%)

Figure 3.4: Length of lease at time of purchase, by houses and flats, 2021-22

^{Base: owner occupied leasehold households
Notes:
1) to safeguard against data disclosure, findings derived from unweighted cell counts of less than 5 and more than 0 are replaced with a “u”
2) underlying data are presented in Annex Table 3.5
Source: English Housing Survey, dwelling sample}

Who maintains the building and how it is managed

Of leaseholders who bought houses, 63% said they were responsible for maintenance on the house, more than the 24% who said somebody else was responsible for maintenance or the 13% who said the freeholder was responsible for maintenance, Annex Table 3.6.

In contrast, 58% of leaseholders in flats said the freeholder was responsible for maintaining the building. That was a higher proportion than the 25% who said they had to maintain the building themselves, which is a slightly larger proportion than the 17% for whom somebody other than the freeholder or leaseholder maintained the building.

Only 8% of leaseholders requested the right to manage their building/house, far less than the 50% who have never claimed the right to manage or the 41% who did not know how they came to be responsible, Annex Table 3.7.

Who is the freeholder

Almost half of the freeholders of flats are either a company owned by other leaseholders, of which the respondent is not part (21%), or any other type of company (28%). Other types of freeholder included private individuals (18%), housing associations (15%) and local authorities (14%). The remaining 4% are other organisations, such as churches or charities, Annex Table 3.8.

Figure 3.5: Freehold ownership of leasehold flats, 2021-22

^{Base: owner occupied leasehold households
Note: underlying data are presented in Annex Table 3.8
Source: English Housing Survey: full household sample}

Technical notes

Results for the sections of this report on households, are presented for ‘2021-22’ and are based on fieldwork carried out between May 2021 and March 2022 on a sample of 9,752 households. Throughout the report, this is referred to as the ‘full household sample’.

Results in the section of this report on energy, which relate to the physical dwelling, are presented for ‘2021’ and are based on fieldwork carried out between July 2020 and March 2022. The sample comprises 10,572 occupied dwellings only where a physical inspection was carried out. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the sample does not include vacant dwellings, where in previous years it did. Throughout the report, this is referred to as the ‘dwelling sample’.

The reliability of the results of sample surveys, including the English Housing Survey, is positively related to the unweighted sample size. Results based on small sample sizes should therefore be treated as indicative only because inference about the national picture cannot be drawn. To alert readers to those results, percentages based on a row or column total with unweighted total sample size of less than 30 are italicised. To safeguard against data disclosure, the cell contents of cells where the cell count is less than 5 are replaced with a “u”.

Where comparative statements have been made in the text, these have been significance tested to a 95% confidence level. This means we are 95% confident that the statements we are making are true.

Additional annex tables, including the data underlying the figures and charts in this report are published on the English Housing Survey page alongside many supplementary live tables, which are updated each year but are too numerous to include in our reports.

A more thorough description of the English Housing Survey methodology is provided in the Technical Report which is published annually. The 2021-22 Technical Report includes further details of the impact the COVID-19 on the 2020-21 survey. A full account of data quality procedures followed to collect and analyse English Housing Survey data can be found in the Quality Report, which is also updated and published annually.