Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The English Housing Survey (EHS) is a continuous national survey commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government (MHCLG) 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. The information obtained through the survey provides an accurate picture of people living in the dwelling, and their views on housing and their neighbourhoods. The survey is also used to inform the development and monitoring of the Ministry'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 12,000 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 will only include derived variables. In addition the number of variables on the new EUL datasets has been reduced and disclosure control increased on certain remaining variables. New Special Licence versions of the EHS will be deposited later in the year, which will be of a similar nature to previous EHS EUL datasets and will include 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, 2008: Housing Stock Data is available for all cases where a physical survey has been completed and for occupied cases comprises data from the household interview as well as data from the physical survey and market value survey. For vacant properties only data for the physical survey and market value survey is provided. The data is made available for a two year rolling sample i.e. approximately 16,000 cases together with the appropriate 2-year weights. For example, the first EHS Housing Stock dataset are for ‘2008’ covering the period April 2007 to March 2009. The Housing Stock dataset should be used for any analysis requiring information relating to the physical characteristics and energy efficiency of the housing stock. Latest edition information For the fourth edition (March 2017), a new cavity wall insulation variable wins95x was added to the physical file. This variable was introduced for the latest EHS Headline Report. From the submission of the 2015 EHS, wins95x will replace wins90x; it has been added to EHS physical files from 2007/8 onwards.
Main Topics:
The EHS survey consists of a number of components. 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, work done to the property and income details. Physical Survey The interview is followed by a visual inspection of the property, both internally and externally, by a qualified surveyor. Data collected include the number and type of rooms and facilities contained in the property, the condition of a wide range of aspects of the physical structure, details of the heating systems, parking provision, and assessment of neighbourhood quality. Market Value Survey This is a desk-based exercise providing two market valuations for each of the core cases. The first gives the market value of the property in its current condition. The second gives the valuation after necessary repairs were undertaken (if identified from the Physical survey). Valuers also provide information about the housing market in the immediate neighbourhood in which the property is situated.
Multi-stage stratified random sample
Face-to-face interview
House inspection; Surveyor property inspection; Desk-based property valuation
