Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The English Housing Survey (EHS) is a continuous national survey commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) 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 and provides valuable information and evidence to inform the development and monitoring of the department'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 14,000 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 only include derived variables. In addition the number of variables on the EUL datasets from that date has been reduced and disclosure control increased on certain remaining variables. The new Special Licence versions of the EHS, which are subject to more restrictive access conditions, are of a similar nature to EHS EUL datasets prior to 2014 and include both 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.

The English Housing Survey, 2014: Housing Stock Data: Special Licence Access is available for all cases where a physical survey has been completed. For occupied cases the data comprises information from the household interview and from the physical survey. For vacant properties only, data from the physical survey are provided. The Special Licence version includes raw interview and physical datasets and derived data, whereas the EUL version (SN 8010) only includes derived variables. Users are advised to obtain SN 8010 to see whether it is suitable for their needs before making an application for the Special Licence version. The data are made available for a two-year rolling sample i.e. approximately 12,000 cases together with the appropriate two-year weights. For example, the EHS Housing Stock results presented here are for 2014, but cover the period April 2013 to March 2015. This means that if you use more than one housing stock dataset, you must use either odd or even years. For example, you need to use the Housing Stock Dataset for '2012' and '2014' or '2013' and '2015', but not the dataset for '2014' and '2013' as you would double-count the cases surveyed between April 2013 and March 2014. The Housing Stock dataset should be used for any analysis requiring information relating to the physical characteristics and energy efficiency of the housing stock. Derived datasets provide key analytical variables compiled post-fieldwork including energy efficiency ratings, decent home indicators and equivalised income. Users who only require data from the household interview should use the English Housing Survey, 2014-2015: Household Data EUL or Special Licence versions (SNs 8009 and 8067 respectively). Latest Edition Information For the third edition (March 2017), the physical data file has been updated; cavity wall insulation variables wallinsy and wins90x have been replaced and new cavity wall insulation variable wins95x added. For the fourth edition (March 2020), the Market Value Survey (MVS) data have been added in a new file MVS_SL.sav. This file contains the additional market value variables (valout, valwith) and grosing factors to be used with these variables (aagpd1314_mvs, aagph1314_mvs). Full details on using MVS data are now provided in the accompanying documentation (8068_mvs_technical_report_2015.pdf, 8068_user_guide_mvs_sl.pdf). Further information: In compliance with Building Regulations, an increasing proportion of dwellings built in 1991 or after with cavity walls had cavity wall insulation fitted at the time of construction (known as ’as built' insulation), although compliance could also be achieved through other techniques. The non-intrusive survey undertaken in the EHS would not always be able to identify as built insulation (though the surveyor might have found out from the occupant), so dwellings built in 1991 or after with cavity walls with no evidence of insulation in the survey have been assumed to be insulated. The category 'cavity walls with evidence of insulation' includes both dwellings with evidence of cavity wall insulation (e.g. drill holes or information from occupants) and those built in 2003 or after. A separate category identifies cavity walled dwellings built in 1991 or after where no evidence of cavity wall insulation was seen by the surveyors and where no assumptions have been made based on the construction date. This category therefore includes dwellings built in 1991 or after up to and including in 2002, with no evidence of CWI from the physical survey. In the original 2014-15 data the assumption had been changed from ‘2003 or after’ to properties built in ‘1996 or after’ (in alignment with rdSAP assumptions), but to preserve the time series, the EHS team have reverted back to the original assumption, hence the variable replacement. For this year’s Headline Report a new variable for cavity wall insulation was introduced (wins95x – this has been added to EHS physical files from 2007/8 (SN 6612) onwards). From the submission of the 2015 data wins95x will replace wins90x.

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The EHS Housing Stock survey consists of two components, and one additional dataset. Interview Survey 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 are anonymised. Physical Survey Where interviews were achieved (the 'full household sample'), each year all rented properties and a sub-sample of owner occupied properties are regarded as eligible for the physical survey and the respondent’s consent is sought. A proportion of vacant properties were also sub-sampled. For these cases a visual inspection of the property, both internal and external is carried out by a qualified surveyor. Market Value SurveyProperties in the 2015 MVS consisted of the most recent two years' of sampled data (2013-14 and 2014-15) from the EHS 'physical survey'. The MVS supplied two valuations as at 1 October 2015, assuming vacant possession: for the actual condition, and assuming any defects are rectified. Additional information was provided by the Valuations Office Agency relating to the property market conditions for the area in which each sampled dwelling was located.

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Face-to-face interview: Computer-assisted (CAPI/CAMI)

House inspection; Surveyor property inspection.