Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.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 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 and provides valuable information and evidence to inform the development and monitoring of the department'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 14,000 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 only include derived variables. In addition the number of variables on the EUL datasets from that date has been reduced and disclosure control increased on certain remaining variables. The new Special Licence versions of the EHS, which are subject to more restrictive access conditions, are of a similar nature to EHS EUL datasets prior to 2014 and include both 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, 2020-21 data was collected during the COVID-19 pandemic which necessitated a change in the established survey mode. Fieldwork was suspended between April and June 2020 and carrying out face-to-face fieldwork was not possible for the remainder of the year. The EHS was therefore carried out over a reduced fieldwork period between July, 2020 and April, 2021 using a 'push-to-telephone' approach and an 'external plus' physical survey where internal inspections of properties were replaced with external inspections, where the inspection was restricted to an assessment of the exterior of the dwelling and supplemented by information about the interior of the dwelling the surveyor collected (socially distanced) at the doorstep.Some of the raw data required for modelling could not be collected, in which case predictive modelled estimates at dwelling level were produced to indicate whether or not a dwelling: had damp problems; had any Category 1 hazards assessed through the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS); or met the Decent Homes Standard.

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The EHS Housing survey consists of two components:Interview Survey on the Participating HouseholdAn 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, ownership and rental details and income details. All interviewees are guaranteed confidentiality and all data is anonymised.Physical Survey on the Housing StockAs detailed above, an 'external plus' physical survey was completed during the COVID-19 pandemic due to restrictions.This dataset contains data from the interview survey only.  The data from the physical survey are available in a separate study (the Housing Stock Dataset available from the UK Data Archive under SN 9076). 

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Telephone interview: Computer-assisted (CATI)