English Housing Survey Report Summary

The Department for Communities and Local Government has published the English Housing Survey (EHS) Headline Report 2010-11.

A summary of the key findings are as follows:

• Average weekly rents in the private rented sector continued to be well above those in the social rented sector (£160 per week compared to £79).
• 63 per cent of households in the social rented sector were in receipt of Housing Benefit, compared with only 25 per cent of those in the private rented sector.
• The long term upward trend in the proportion of households experiencing overcrowding in both rented sectors appeared to continue (7 per cent for social renters and 6 per cent for private renters in 2010-11), but there was no appreciable change in the proportion of owner occupiers living in overcrowded conditions (1 per cent in 2010-11).
• The energy efficiency of the housing stock continued to improve, with the average SAP rating reaching 55 in 2010. The social sector continued to be more energy efficient on average than the private sector.
• The proportion of dwellings with damp problems reduced from 13 per cent in 1996 to 7 per cent in 2010. Private rented dwellings were more likely than those in other tenures to experience damp problems, partly as they are more likely to be older stock.

Source: English Housing Survey 2010-11