Rural England
Polarisation by housing tenure
Key points
- Almost half of all people in social housing in rural districts are on low incomes. This compares to around one in seven of those in other tenures.
- In two-thirds of households in social housing in rural districts, the head of the household is not in paid work. This compares with a third of households in other tenures.
- In both cases, the patterns are similar for both rural and urban districts.
- See the UK indicator on polarisation by housing tenure.
Graph 1: By income
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Graph 2: By work status
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Rural/urban ratios (urban = 10)
On most poverty and social exclusion indicators, rural areas have 'better scores' than urban areas. The purpose of the table below is to differentiate between those subjects where rural areas are 'a bit better' and those where rural areas are 'a lot better'. It does so by presenting the rural statistics for the indicator as a proportion of the urban statistics. So, for example, a rural 'score' of 6 in the table below means that the rural statistic is around 60% of its urban equivalent.
Graph 1
| Type of district | Proportion of people in low-income households | |
|---|---|---|
| Social renters | Other households | |
| 'Very rural' districts | 8 | 8 |
| 'Mostly rural' districts | 9 | 8 |
| 'Part rural' districts | 9 | 8 |
Graph 2
| Type of district | Proportion of households where the household reference person is not in paid work | |
|---|---|---|
| Social renters | Other households | |
| 'Very rural' districts | 9 | 11 |
| 'Mostly rural' districts | 10 | 10 |
| 'Part rural' districts | 10 | 9 |
Definitions and data sources
The indicator
For each type of local authority district, the first graph shows the proportion of people in low-income households for people in social housing compared to people in other housing tenures. Income is disposable household income after deducting housing costs and the low-income threshold is the same as that used elsewhere, namely 60% of contemporary median household income. All data is equivalised (adjusted) to account for differences in household size and composition.
For each type of local authority district, the second graph shows the proportion of households where the 'household reference person' (the person with the highest income in the household More specifically, the household reference person is the householder, i.e. the person who: a) owns the household accommodation, or b) is legally responsible for the rent of the accommodation, or c) has the household accommodation as an emolument or perquisite, or d) has the household accommodation by virtue of some relationship to the owner who is not a member of the household. If there are joint householders the household reference person will be the one with the highest income. If their income is the same, then the eldest householder is taken.) is not in paid work, with the data shown separately for households who are social renting and households in other housing tenures.
Level of the data
Lower tier local authorities (districts), as classified by the DEFRA 2005 classification system. Both the DEFRA classification rules and their results by local authority can be found on the page on rural/urban classification systems.
Source
First graph: Households Below Average Income, DWP. To improve its statistical reliability, the data is the average for the latest three years.
Second graph: 2005/06 Survey of English Housing, DCLG. To improve its statistical reliability, the data is the average for the latest three years.
The numbers
Graph 1
| Type of district | Proportion of people in low-income households | |
|---|---|---|
| Social renters | Other households | |
| 'Very rural' districts | 42% | 14% |
| 'Mostly rural' districts | 45% | 13% |
| 'Part rural' districts | 44% | 14% |
| Urban districts | 50% | 17% |
Graph 2
| Type of district | Proportion of households where the household reference person is not in paid work | |
|---|---|---|
| Social renters | Other households | |
| 'Very rural' districts | 63% | 35% |
| 'Mostly rural' districts | 68% | 33% |
| 'Part rural' districts | 69% | 30% |
| Urban districts | 69% | 32% |