National statistics

Introduction and key findings

Published 14 December 2023

Applies to England

Introduction

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. This report is the first publication of findings from the 2022-23 survey.

Impact of COVID-19 on the English Housing Survey

Those who have read EHS publications over the past two years will know the survey’s data collection was impacted by the circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, face-to-face interviews were replaced by 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  In 2022-23, the survey was able to move back to face-to-face interviews, and internal inspections of properties resumed, with the option for the interview to be carried out by telephone if needed (a knock to nudge approach).

Although the 2022-23 fieldwork mode was not impacted by COVID-19, it is possible that the achieved sample was still influenced by some pandemic conditions. When  analysing the 2022-23 data, we found the sample was closer to 2019-20 than 2021-22 in many ways, though included more renters and a higher proportion of one person households compared to 2019-20. It is not clear to what extent these are the result of a differential achieved sample, or real change over the pandemic period. Therefore, while we believe results in 2022-23 can be more reliably compared with those from 2019-20 and earlier than surveys conducted in 2020-21 and 2021-21, some level of caution should still be applied.

Dwelling data will be more affected by the legacy of COVID-19. The English Housing Survey dwelling data (the physical inspection of the home) is designed such that we aggregate two years of data for analysis. The combined 2022 dataset, reported here, includes dwelling data collected through full surveys over 2022-23 and ‘external plus’ surveys in 2021-22. Where data could not be collected in 2021-22 through the ‘external plus’ survey methodology, predictive modelled estimates were produced to 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. The headline figures for this report therefore use hybrid variables that combine actual measured data from 2022/23 with a mix of observed and modelled   data from 2021/22.   Where modelled data has been used in conjunction with observed data, this is noted in the report. 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

This report contains headline findings split into six chapters.

The first chapter provides a profile of households and dwellings in England, covering tenure (owner occupation and renting in either the social or  private sectors) and the demographic and economic characteristics of the people who live in those three tenures.

The second chapter explores housing costs and affordability and how it varies between tenures and over time.

The third chapter looks at buying expectations among renters; average mortgage and rental costs; the extent to which private and social renters claim housing support to help meet the cost of their rent; and rates of mortgage and rent arrears.

The fourth chapter focuses on housing quality and condition, including decency, safety and damp. Rates of overcrowding and under-occupation by tenure are also examined.

The fifth chapter covers energy efficiency, heating and insulation. It also looks at smart meters and electricity payment methods.

Finally, well-being and loneliness are explored. Additional annex tables provide further detail to that covered in the main body of the report.

This is the first release of data from the 2022-23 survey. The report will be followed up with a series of more detailed topic reports in 2024.

Key Findings

Owner occupation remained the largest tenure group in England (65% of households), with the social rented sector being the smallest (16%) and the private rented sector remaining a similar proportion (19%) since 2013-14.

• While the overall proportion of owner occupiers remains similar to a decade ago, the proportion of outright owners is significantly higher. Since 2013-14, there have been more outright owners than mortgagers and the proportion is significantly higher still – 35% of households are outright owners and 29% are mortgagors in 2022-23.

In 2022, there were 1.1 million vacant dwellings, making up 5% of dwellings in England. This is a similar proportion to the last year of (pre COVID-19) data collection in 2019, also at 1.1 million and 5%.

Mortgagers found it more difficult to afford their mortgage this year compared to 2021-22, with 11% finding it difficult to afford in 2022. More than a quarter of private renters (29%) and social renters (27%) found it difficult to pay rent.

Most first time buyers funded the purchase of their first home with savings, while there was an increase in those reporting help from family or friends (from 27% in 2021-22 to 36% in 2022-23).

In 2022, 15% of dwellings failed to meet the Decent Homes Standard, while 8% of dwellings had a HHSRS Category 1 hazard, down from 9% in 2021.

• Between 2011 and 2019, there was a notable reduction in the prevalence of non-decent dwellings across all tenures. Between 2019 and 2022, both owner occupied (from 16% down to 14%) and social rented (from 12% down to 10 %) dwellings saw a decrease in the proportion of non-decent homes. The apparent decrease in the proportion of non-decent private rented dwellings was statistically insignificant.

In 2022, 4% of dwellings had a problem with damp, an increase from pre-pandemic levels (3%) with private rented dwellings rising from 7% to 9% between 2019 and 2022.

Over the last 10 years, the proportion of homes in the highest energy efficiency bands A to C increased (19% to 48%). Homes in the social rented sector saw the largest rise (36% to 70%).

While measures of well-being and loneliness are better compared to levels seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, levels are still lower than in 2019-20.

Owner occupiers had higher scores for life satisfaction, thinking life is worthwhile, happiness, and lower scores for anxiety, than other tenures.

• Within owner occupation, outright owners showed higher scores than mortgagors for life satisfaction (7.9 compared with 7.6), thinking life is worthwhile (8.1 compared with 7.9) and happiness (7.9 compared with 7.5), and lower scores for anxiety (2.7 compared with 3.1).

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 2022-23 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 the Housing Research and Evaluation Team at DLUHC. If you have any queries about it, 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: Chauncey Glass, Housing and Planning Analysis Division, DLUHC. Contact via ehs@levellingup.gov.uk.