Survey of English Housing 2004/5: Provisional results

These key findings are provisional and not final.

Some of the key results are:

* In 2005 it is estimated there were 14.6 million owner occupiers in England (71 per cent of the total), 3.7 million (18 per cent) social renters and 2.4 million (12 per cent) private renters.

* The private rented sector has the oldest housing stock, with 38 per cent of private renters in accommodation built before 1919, compared with just 6 per cent of social renters and 20 per cent of owner occupiers.

* 82 per cent of households live in a house or bungalow and 17 per cent in a flat or maisonette.

* The average household size in 2005 was 2.4 persons, with the highest for households buying with a mortgage at 2.8 and lowest for outright owners at 1.9.

* For households under 30 years of age, there has been a gradual shift in tenure during the past few years from owner occupation to private renting - possibly due to a worsening of affordability as house prices have continued to rise. Between 2001 and 2005 the proportion of households under 30 who were buying with a mortgage fell from 40 to 36 per cent, while over the same period the proportion of under 30 households who were renting privately rose from 33 to 40 per cent.

* Between 1993/94 and 2004/05, the proportion of mortgagors with an interest-only mortgage declined from 67 to 27 per cent, while the proportion of mortgagors with a repayment mortgage* rose from 33 to 64 per cent. In 2004/05 only 7 per cent of new mortgages were endowment mortgages, 71 per cent were repayment mortgages and 8 per cent were a mix of interest only and repayment. The increase in the popularity of "interest and repayment" mortgages may reflect a tendency to convert part of the outstanding loan to a repayment loan in cases where the endowment policy is no longer expected to cover the outstanding loan on maturity.

* 2.3 million households had been resident at their current address for less than one year - with 54 per cent for those renting furnished accommodation compared with 3 per cent of outright owners. 46 per cent of households had lived at the same address for 10 years or more, with 26 per cent for 20 years or more.

* 81 per cent of couples with dependent children were homeowners. By comparison, only 37 per cent of lone parents with children were owner occupiers. 45 per cent of lone parents with children were social renters.

* In 2005, 8 per cent of all households in England were BME (black and minority ethnic) households. 75 per cent of Indian households were owner occupiers, compared to 51 per cent for BME households as a whole. 53 per cent of Bangladeshi households were in social housing.

* There were about 500,000 overcrowded households in England - about 2.5 per cent of all households. In London the rate of overcrowding was 6.5 per cent. By housing tenure, the social rented sector had the highest rate of overcrowding: 5.2 per cent.

* In 2004/05, 61 per cent of social sector tenants were receiving Housing Benefit, a level that has been fairly stable in recent years. Only 20 per cent of private sector tenants were receiving Housing Benefit - the lowest since the Survey of English Housing started in 1993/94.

* The average rent paid by social sector tenants receiving Housing Benefit was £64 per week before Housing Benefit, and £10 per week after Housing Benefit. The corresponding figures for the private rented sector were £95 per week before HB and £23 after Housing Benefit.

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