Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The English Housing Survey (EHS) is a continuous national survey commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government (MHCLG) that collects information about people's housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England. The EHS brings together two previous survey series into a single fieldwork operation: the English House Condition Survey (EHCS) (available from the UK Data Archive under GN 33158) and the Survey of English Housing (SEH) (available under GN 33277). The EHS covers all housing tenures. The information obtained through the survey provides an accurate picture of people living in the dwelling, and their views on housing and their neighbourhoods. The survey is also used to inform the development and monitoring of the Ministry's housing policies. Results from the survey are also used by a wide range of other users including other government departments, local authorities, housing associations, landlords, academics, construction industry professionals, consultants, and the general public. The EHS has a complex multi-stage methodology consisting of two main elements; an initial interview survey of around 12,000 households and a follow-up physical inspection. Some further elements are also periodically included in or derived from the EHS: for 2008 and 2009, a desk-based market valuation was conducted of a sub-sample of 8,000 dwellings (including vacant ones), but this was not carried out from 2010 onwards. A periodic follow-up survey of private landlords and agents (the Private Landlords Survey (PLS)) is conducted using information from the EHS interview survey. Fuel Poverty datasets are also available from 2003, created by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The EHS interview survey sample formed part of the Integrated Household Survey (IHS) (available from the Archive under GN 33420) from April 2008 to April 2011. During this period the core questions from the IHS formed part of the EHS questionnaire. End User Licence and Special Licence Versions: From 2014 data onwards, the End User Licence (EUL) versions of the EHS will only include derived variables. In addition the number of variables on the new EUL datasets has been reduced and disclosure control increased on certain remaining variables. New Special Licence versions of the EHS will be deposited later in the year, which will be of a similar nature to previous EHS EUL datasets and will include derived and raw datasets. Further information about the EHS and the latest news, reports and tables can be found on the GOV.UK English Housing Survey web pages.

SN 9058 - English Housing Survey, 2020: Housing Stock Data contains data from the households who have taken part in both the interview and physical surveys as well as physical survey data on a random sample of vacant dwellings identified by the interviewer. The data from the interview survey only are available under SN 9057 - English Housing Survey, 2020-2021: Household Data.Due to changes to the methodology in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, both the achieved full interview (household) and dwelling (stock) samples in 2020-21 were smaller than in a normal year, at 7,474 households and 5,228 dwellings respectively. Vacant dwellings were not surveyed in 2020-21 because social distancing restrictions prevented interviewers from visiting the sampled addresses to identify them. Further details about the key changes made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are included in the Technical Report available as part of the study documentation.

Main Topics:

The EHS Housing survey consists of two components.Interview survey on the participating household - An interview is first conducted with the householder. The interview topics include: household characteristics, satisfaction with the home and the area, disability and adaptations to the home, ownership and rental details and income details. All interviewees are guaranteed confidentiality and all data is anonymised.Physical survey on the housing Stock - A visual inspection of both the interior and exterior of the dwelling is carried out by a qualified surveyor to assess the condition and energy efficiency of the dwelling.  Topics covered include whether the dwelling meets the Decent Homes Standard; cost to make the dwelling decent; existence of damp and  Category 1 Hazards as measured by the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS); Energy Efficiency Rating. The physical survey is carried out on the dwelling of a sub-sample of the participants of the interview survey.  The sub-sample consists of the dwelling of participants living in private or social rented properties and a sub-sample of those in owner occupied properties. A proportion of the dwellings found to be vacant during the interview survey are also included in the physical survey.

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Telephone interview: Computer-assisted (CATI)

Other