Overcrowding and under-occupation
3.1 Levels of overcrowding and under-occupation are measured using the
‘bedroom standard’ (see glossary). This is defined by the difference between the number of bedrooms needed to avoid undesirable sharing (given the number, ages and relationships of the household members) and the number of bedrooms available to the household. A household is defined as under-occupied if it has at least two bedrooms more than needed, according to the bedroom standard. A household is defined as overcrowded if there are fewer bedrooms available than required by the bedroom standard.
3.1 Data from the three most recent years has been combined to produce the estimates discussed in this section of the report1. This is because the number of overcrowded households interviewed in each survey year is too small to enable reliable estimates to be produced for a single year.
3.2 The rate of overcrowding for 2010-11 was 3% of households. The rate for under-occupation, by contrast, was 37%.
3.3 In the last ten years, the rate of overcrowding has increased slightly, from 2.4% in 2001-02 to 3.0% in 2010-11. This rise was mainly related to an increase in levels in the social and private rented sectors, whilst the rate of overcrowding in the owner occupied sector remained unchanged over this period, Figure 3.1 and Annex Table 3.1.
3.4 Under-occupation was, overall, much more prevalent than overcrowding, and mainly concentrated in the owner occupied sector, where the rate was 49%, compared to 10% in the social rented sector and 17% in the private rented sector. The overall rate of under-occupation in England increased gradually in the last ten years, from 34% of households in 2001-02 to 37% in 2010-11. For owner occupiers the rate of under-occupation increased from 43% to 49%. In both the social and private rented sectors there was a slight decrease in levels of under-occupation, Figure 3.2 and Annex Table 3.1.
1 The three most recent years of the EHS household interview sample have been combined to produce a three year moving average for estimates. For example, estimates for 2010-11 are based on an average from the 2008-09 to 2010-11 EHS Household Survey data.
Chapter 3 Housing needs | 37
Figure 3.1: Trend in overcrowding rates by tenure, 2001-02 to 2010-11, three year moving average
0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0
2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11
percentage
owner occupiers social renters private renters all
households Base: all households
Notes:
1) the underlying data for this figure are in Annex Table 3.1
2) three year averages are the average of the three years up to and including the labelled date 3) overcrowding and under-occupation are measured using the bedroom standard (see Glossary) Sources:
2007-08 and earlier: Survey of English Housing 2008-09 onwards: DCLG English Housing Survey
38 | English Housing Survey Households Report 2010-11
Figure 3.2: Trend in under-occupation rates by tenure, 2001-02 to 2010-11, three year moving average
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11
percentage
owner occupiers social renters private renters all
households
Base: all households
Notes:
1) the underlying data for this figure are in Annex Table 3.1
2) three year averages are the average of the three years up to and including the labelled date 3) overcrowding and under-occupation are measured using the bedroom standard (see Glossary)
Sources:
2007-08 and earlier: Survey of English Housing 2008-09 onwards: DCLG English Housing Survey
3.5 Of the remaining households, 25% were at the bedroom standard, and 35% had one bedroom above standard, Figure 3.3 and Table 3.1.
Chapter 3 Housing needs | 39
Figure 3.3: Proportion of households that meet the bedroom standard, three year moving average, 2008-09 to 2010-11
Percentages
3.0
24.8
35.2 37.1
overcrowded at standard
one above standard under-occupied
Base: all households Notes:
1) underlying data are presented in Table 3.1
2) three year averages are the average of the three years up to and including the labelled date 3) overcrowding and under-occupation are measured using the bedroom standard (see Glossary) Source: DCLG English Housing Survey, full household sample
Regional picture
3.6 Looking at the regional picture, London had the highest proportion of overcrowded households, with 8% of households classed as
overcrowded. The West Midlands had the next highest rate of overcrowding (3%), Table 3.1.
3.7 Only 24% of households in London lived in under-occupied
accommodation, a lower proportion than in the other regions. The regions with the highest rates of under-occupation included the East Midlands and the South West of England (both 42%).
40 | English Housing Survey Households Report 2010-11
Table 3.1: Characteristics of households by the difference from the bedroom standard, three year moving average, 2008-09 to 2010-11
all households
owner occupiers 191 1,982 5,278 7,080 14,531 35,925
social renters 278 1,988 1,125 390 3,781 9,338
private renters 187 1,393 1,212 554 3,346 7,024
age of household reference person
16-24 53 412 292 104 861 1,657
25-34 164 1,204 1,240 582 3,190 6,680
35-44 208 1331 1665 1093 4297 10035
45-54 146 1,034 1,505 1,469 4,154 10,112
55-64 59 512 1,110 1,913 3,594 9,366
65 or over 25 871 1,803 2,864 5,562 14,437
region
North East 19 267 453 389 1,129 2,894
North West 68 691 1,126 1,066 2,951 7,508
Yorkshire and the Humber 46 506 830 862 2,243 5,920
East Midlands 40 367 689 784 1,880 4,791
West Midlands 66 514 796 875 2,251 5,529
East 51 550 827 964 2,392 5,981
London 259 1,150 942 741 3,092 6,039
South East 70 823 1,182 1,413 3,488 8,299
South West 35 495 770 931 2,232 5,326
household type
couple, no dependent child(ren) 44 808 2,441 4,438 7,730 19,213
couple with dependent child(ren) 289 1,415 1,877 971 4,551 11,526
lone parent with dependent child(ren 163 796 486 78 1,523 3,875
other multi-person households 159 708 629 183 1,679 3,633
one person 0 1,636 2,183 2,355 6,175 14,040
total 655 5,363 7,615 8,025 21,658 52,287
percentages tenure
owner occupiers 1.3 13.6 36.3 48.7 100.0
social renters 7.3 52.6 29.8 10.3 100.0
private renters 5.6 41.6 36.2 16.6 100.0
age of household reference person
16-24 6.1 47.8 34.0 12.1 100.0
25-34 5.1 37.7 38.9 18.2 100.0
35-44 4.8 31.0 38.7 25.4 100.0
45-54 3.5 24.9 36.2 35.4 100.0
55-64 1.7 14.2 30.9 53.2 100.0
65 or over 0.4 15.7 32.4 51.5 100.0
region
North East 1.7 23.7 40.1 34.5 100.0
North West 2.3 23.4 38.2 36.1 100.0
Yorkshire and the Humber 2.1 22.5 37.0 38.4 100.0
East Midlands 2.2 19.5 36.7 41.7 100.0
West Midlands 3.0 22.8 35.4 38.9 100.0
East 2.1 23.0 34.6 40.3 100.0
London 8.4 37.2 30.5 24.0 100.0
South East 2.0 23.6 33.9 40.5 100.0
South West 1.6 22.2 34.5 41.7 100.0
household type
couple, no dependent child(ren) 0.6 10.4 31.6 57.4 100.0
couple with dependent child(ren) 6.3 31.1 41.2 21.3 100.0
lone parent with dependent child(ren 10.7 52.3 31.9 5.1 100.0
other multi-person households 9.5 42.2 37.5 10.9 100.0
one person 0.0 26.5 35.4 38.1 100.0
total 3.0 24.8 35.2 37.1 100.0
sample size 1,480 12,271 18,175 20,361 52,287
difference from bedroom standard
Note: overcrowding and under-occupation are measured using the bedroom standard (see glossary) Source: three year average based on DCLG English Housing Survey data, full household sample
Chapter 3 Housing needs | 41
Age of HRP
3.8 Over half (52%) of all households with an HRP aged 55 or over were under-occupied. Conversely, much smaller proportions of 16-24 year
olds and 25-34 year olds lived in under-occupied accommodation, Table 3.1.
Household type
3.9 Figure 3.4 shows that lone parents with dependent children were the least likely to live in under-occupied accommodation (5%). This compares with 57% of couples with no dependent children, 21% of couples with dependent children and 38% of single person households.
3.10 Lone parents were more likely to be in overcrowded accommodation (11%) than couples with dependent children, of whom 6% lived in overcrowded accommodation.
Figure 3.4: Overcrowding and under-occupation by household type, three year average 2008-09 to 2010-11
0
overcrowded at standard one above standard under-occupied Notes:
1) overcrowding and under-occupation are measured using the bedroom standard (see Glossary) 2) underlying data presented in Table 3.1
Source: three year average based on DCLG English Housing Survey data, full household sample
42 | English Housing Survey Households Report 2010-11