In the spotlight - Introducing the English Housing Survey

Article dated: 02 June 2011

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 national surveys into a single fieldwork operation: the English House Condition Survey and the Survey of English Housing.

The data are divided into two parts: the household data and the housing stock data. The first housing data are from 2008-2009 and the housing stock data are for 2008-2010. The household data include the responses to the interview survey and cover topics such as: household characteristics; satisfaction with the home and the area; disability and adaptations to the home; work done to the property; and income details. The housing stock data includes the responses to the physical and the market value surveys, and provides an overview of the housing stock in England.

The data can be used to examine economic and social issues related to housing and housing conditions in England. The following topics will be covered in most years of the EHS: household composition, ethnicity, nationality, economic status, education and health; household accommodation and length of residence; housing history and aspirations; rent and mortgage payments; satisfaction with landlord/attitudes to neighbourhood; second homes; damp in the home; and income.

The EHS datasets can be downloaded from the ESDS website.

Teaching dataset

ESDS Government is preparing a version of the 2008-2009 EHS housing stock data to be used for social sciences teaching. It will include approximately 50 variables and will allow students to conduct SPSS or Stata analyses and to write reports using nationally-representative data. It will be available in late 2011.

Housing and local environment theme pages

Looking for data on housing and the local environment?

ESDS Government Housing and the Local Environment Theme