Housing Conditions including Decent Homes

Overview of Housing Conditions including Decent Homes

Data on housing and neighbourhood conditions are analysed extensively within Communities and Local Government to monitor progress towards providing better living conditions in England. Data on housing conditions also support many other cross-Government policies.

Data collected and available

The English Housing Survey (EHS) and its predecessor, the English House Condition Survey (EHCS) collect data on the condition and energy efficiency of housing and the quality of neighbourhood conditions in England. The surveys provide an independent audit of progress towards meeting the Decent Homes target at a national and regional level.

The EHS and EHCS sections of this website provide background information and details of the survey, links to published reports and data tables, and information on how to obtain a copy of available datasets. Reports typically provide a profile of the housing stock and its use, and report on issues such as decent homes, the housing of vulnerable and disadvantaged households, facilities and services provided by homes, energy efficiency, and liveability.

EHS and EHCS data is also used by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for their work on fuel poverty.

Local Authorities provide an assessment of the condition of their stock, and work carried out on their stock in the last financial year in the Business Plan Statistical Appendix Annual Monitoring (BPSA-AM) return. This includes reporting the number of homes in the Local Authority owned stock which fall below the decent homes standard, and is used to monitor progress against the target in individual Local Authorities.

Supporting information on the capital investment in Local Authority housing is available from the Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA) return.