Official Statistics

Count of Traveller caravans, July 2022: England

Published 7 December 2022

Applies to England

All comparisons refer to year-on-year changes to reflect the overall trend rather than seasonal fluctuations. For this statistical release (July 2022), comparisons have been made against July 2021.

1. In this release:

• Overall, the number of traveller caravans has increased since the last count in July 2021, in line with the long-term trend observed over previous counts. The total number of traveller caravans in England on the count date in July 2022 was 25,653, which is 1,186 (5%) more than the 24,467 caravans reported in the July 2021 count.

• The growth in number of caravans since the July 2021 count has been led by an equal rise in the number of private caravans (on authorised sites) and caravans on unauthorised sites.

• The number of caravans on authorised privately funded sites was 15,400. This was 599 (4%) more than the 14,801 recorded in the July 2021 count. The majority of the increase in private caravans were on sites with permanent planning permission.

• The number of caravans on authorised socially rented sites was 6,631. This is broadly the same as the figures reported in the July 2021 count, which recorded 6,643 caravans.

• Overall, the July 2022 count indicated that 86% of traveller caravans in England were on authorised land and that 14% were on unauthorised land.

• There were 3,622 unauthorised caravans reported in the July 2022 count, an increase of 599 (20%) since July 2021. Of these 2,853 were unauthorised developments on land owned by travellers and 769 were unauthorised encampments on land not owned by travellers, increases of 537 (23%) and 62 (9%) respectively.

Release date: 7 December 2022

Date of next release: June 2023 (provisional)

Contact: 0303 444 4805 / travellercaravancountform@levellingup.gov.uk (Responsible Statistician: Katherine Harris)

Media enquiries: 0303 444 1209 / NewsDesk@levellingup.gov.uk

2. Introduction

This statistical release presents official statistics on the count of traveller caravans in England. The count is carried out to provide local data on the number and seasonal movement of caravans and trends over time.

This publication is compiled from information submitted by local authorities in England. Local authorities carry out the count of caravans on traveller sites twice a year, in January and July, providing a snapshot of the number of caravans on the day of the count. Information is collected about caravans on authorised socially rented sites, authorised privately funded sites, unauthorised developments (sites on land owned by travellers for which planning permission has not been granted) and unauthorised encampments (sites on land not owned by travellers and which do not have planning permission).

The traveller caravan count covers data on the number of caravans and traveller sites in England; it does not cover the number of occupants residing in these caravans or caravan sites, or the potential drivers for any observed change.

The count takes place twice a year to reflect winter residence and summer travelling trends. All comparisons refer to year-on-year changes in order that changes between counts reflect the overall trend rather than seasonal fluctuations. For this statistical release (July 2022), comparisons have been made against July 2021.

The information in this release is based on data returned to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities by local authorities in England. Users should note that revisions may have been made to figures from previous counts in this release as a result of updated data being received. This release presents the most accurate data on the number of traveller caravans in England and the accompanying live tables should be used for historic comparisons.

A review of recent counts suggested that the England total was being moderately underestimated through the exclusion of authorities who had not submitted data in recent years^{[footnote 1]}. Since July 2021 the England level totals have been revised to include imputed figures for those authorities who have not provided data for the previous 3 or more counts^{[footnote 2]}. The inclusion of such authorities resulted in a 3% increase in the England estimate for January 2020 for example. When this change was made, the national figures going back as far as the January 2018 count were revised to include the figures for long-term non-responders for comparison. See the accompanying technical note for more detail.

Further information is given in 5 accompanying live tables.

3. Count of Traveller caravans

Local authorities carried out the July 2022 count on or around 21 July 2022. Aggregated totals by site type are presented in Table 1 below, and comparative figures from the previous July count are presented in Table 2.

At the time of the July 2022 count, the total number of traveller caravans in England was 25,653. Of these 6,631 (26%) were on socially rented sites; 15,400 (60%) were on privately funded sites; 2,853 (11%) were unauthorised developments on land owned by travellers; and 769 (3%) were unauthorised encampments on land not owned by travellers. This information is also illustrated in Figure 1 below and in accompanying Live Table 1.

Table 1 : Number of Traveller caravans in July 2022 by site type, England

	Number of caravans	Percentage (%) of total caravans
Caravans on Authorised Sites (with planning permission)	22,031	85.9
Of this: Socially Rented Caravans	6,631	25.8
Of this: Private Caravans	15,400	60.0
Of which: Temporary Planning                Permission	444	1.7
Of which: Permanent Planning                Permission	14,956	58.3
Caravans on Unauthorised Sites (without planning permission)	3,622	14.1
Of this: Caravans on sites on         Traveller’s own land	2,853	11.1
Of which: Tolerated	1,272	5.0
Of which Not Tolerated	1,581	6.2
Of this: Caravans on sites not on         Traveller’s own land	769	3.0
Of which: Tolerated	306	1.2
Of which: Not Tolerated	463	1.8
Total (all caravans)	25,653	100.0

The total number of traveller caravans in England has risen from 19,261 in  2012 to 25,653 in July 2022, an increase of 33%. The growth in number of caravans has been led mainly by a rise in the number of private caravans (with permanent planning permission), resulting in an increase in the total authorised caravans despite a decrease in socially rented caravans. However, this increase has not been consistent year-on-year.

Figure 1 illustrates that the number of caravans on authorised private sites has increased over the same period, with 9,274 private caravans recorded in 2012 compared to a total of 15,400 in July 2022.

Figure 2 below shows that caravans on authorised private sites accounted for the largest proportion of the total number of caravans across England in July 2022 (60%). Caravans on unauthorised sites accounted for 14% of the total with caravans on authorised socially rented sites accounting for 26%. The underlying figures are included in accompanying Live Table 4.

Table 2: Number of Traveller caravans in July 2022 and July 2021 by site type, England

	Number of caravans July 2022 count	Number of caravans July 2021 count	Absolute difference in number of caravans between collections	Percentage difference in number of caravans between collections
Caravans on Authorised Sites (with planning permission)	22,031	21,444	587	2.7
Of this: Socially         Rented Caravans	6,631	6,643	-12	-0.2
Of this: Private         Caravans	15,400	14,801	599	4.0
Of which:                Temporary                Planning                Permission	444	432	12	2.8
Of which:                Permanent                Planning                Permission	14,956	14,369	587	4.1
Caravans on Unauthorised Sites (without planning permission)	3,622	3,023	599	19.8
Of this: Caravans         on sites on         Traveller’s own         land	2,853	2,316	537	23.2
Of which:                 Tolerated	1,272	965	307	31.8
Of which:                  Not                 Tolerated	1,581	1,351	230	17.0
Of this: Caravans         on sites not on         Traveller’s own         land	769	707	62	8.8
Of which:                 Tolerated	306	186	120	64.5
Of which:                  Not                 Tolerated	463	521	-58	-11.1
Total (all caravans)	25,653	24,467	1,186	4.8

Figure 1: Number of Traveller caravans in England by site type over last 10 July counts (a)

(a) Due to National lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Traveller Caravan Count was suspended in July 2020 and January 2021

Figure 2: Proportion of Traveller caravans by site type groupings in  July 2022 count

4. Geographic distribution

The geographic distribution of traveller caravans varies across England. Map 1 below shows the total number of caravans on authorised sites within each local authority boundary.

The data has been grouped into 5 categories for the purposes of mapping using the Jenks natural breaks classification method. This method splits the data into intervals based on the natural groupings observed within. The class breaks identified work to minimise the variance or difference between individual cases selected in each group whilst also maximising the variances between each group taken as a whole. Maps created using this method allow trends in the underlying data to be accurately represented, aiding interpretation and further analysis.

As indicated in the key, darker colours represent those local authorities that have reported a higher number of total caravans on authorised sites whereas lighter colours indicate local authorities that have reported lower numbers of caravans.

Map 1: Traveller caravans on authorised sites in England, July 2022

5. Historic data

The traveller caravan count has taken place twice a year since January 1979, with the exception of collections cancelled in July 2020 and January 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Figure 3 below shows how the total number of traveller caravans in England has changed over this period across both summer (July) and winter (January) counts. National totals from each count of the main categories of authorised and unauthorised sites are presented in accompanying Live Table 4. The figures show an increase in the overall total from 8,065 caravans in  1979 to  25,653 in July 2022.

Figure 3: Number of Traveller caravans from 1979 to 2022, England (a)

(a) Due to National lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Traveller Caravan Count was suspended in July 2020 and January 2021

6. New affordable residential pitches

As part of the July count, local authorities are required to submit data on the number of new affordable rental pitches constructed since the previous year’s count. The number of new affordable residential pitches in each local authority area in England has been collected since July 2011 (whilst the July 2020 count was cancelled, information on new affordable residential pitches was still collected from local authorities). This has been reported to allow such pitches to be included in the calculation of the New Homes Bonus for individual local authorities.

Table 3 below shows that local authorities reported that one such pitch was created on privately-funded sites between July 2021 and July 2022 but no new affordable residential pitches were created on socially rented sites in the same period. Further details are provided in accompanying Live Table 5.

The next count of new affordable residential pitches is expected to take place as part of the July 2023 count of traveller caravans.

Table 3: Number of New Affordable Residential Pitches (a) constructed between July 2021 and July 2022 by site type, England

Year (b)	Number of socially rented new affordable residential pitches	Number of private new affordable residential pitches	Total number of new affordable residential pitches
2012	96	88	184
2013	35	22	57
2014	49	0	49
2015	162	22	184
2016	27	26	53
2017	41	35	76
2018	44	0	44
2019	57	3	60
2020	0	15	15
2021	2	0	2
2022	0	1	1

(a) Policy guidance notes require these pitches to be new affordable residential pitches that met the ‘affordable housing’ definition in the National Planning Policy Framework. (b) Note that the July 2020 count was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however data was still collected on new affordable residential pitches.

7. Accompanying tables and open data

Symbols used

* Imputed

.. No data supplied for at least the previous 3 counts

8. Tables

Accompanying tables are available to download alongside this release. These include:

Table 1:  Count of traveller caravans on authorised and unauthorised sites for the last 6 counts, nationally and by local authority area, based on local authority boundaries as at the time of the count(s)

Table 2:  Location and size of traveller sites operated by local authorities and private registered providers in England

Table 3:  Number of Travelling Showpeople caravans on authorised and unauthorised sites for the last 6 January counts nationally and by local authority area (updated as part of the January count)

Table 4:  National totals for the main categories of authorised and unauthorised sites for all counts since January 1979

Table 5:  Count of Traveller Caravans: new affordable residential pitches constructed between July 2021 and July 2022 (updated as part of the July count)

See Statistical releases and accompanying tables for data from previous caravan counts.

9. Technical notes

Please see the accompanying technical notes document for further details.

Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website.

Information about statistics at DLUHC is available via the Department’s website.

1. Previously, authorities who had not responded for the previous 3 counts had been assumed to have zero caravans in the published tables, however the exclusion of such authorities from the national total is increasingly problematic in light of continued non-response from some larger authorities, as well as low response rates following the COVID-19 pandemic. ↩

2. Note that where an authority does not submit data for the count, we publish the local authority level data submitted for the previous count (of the same season) for up to 3 counts. ↩