Notes
Housing-related websites
Introduction
The main sources for housing-related data used in this website are large government surveys, each of which is discussed in the relevant survey pages rather than here. These surveys are:
In this context, and apart from a few miscellaneous bits and pieces, the main subject for which website data is used is that of homelessness. Homelessness data is collected separately for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and, as the legislation framework is different between these countries, is largely not directly comparable between them.
Homelessness
Sources
In summary:
- English website: Department for Communities and Local Government - news section.
- Scottish website: Scottish Government statistics - homelessness section.
- Welsh website: Welsh Assembly Government - housing statistics section.
- Northern Irish website: Department for Social Development - housing statistics section
- Underlying datasets: administrative returns from local authorities.
- Update frequency: typically quarterly.
- Data format: typically spreadsheets.
Use made on this website
| Website | Indicator | Update timing | Graphs | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Department for Communities and Local Government - homelessness section | Homelessness (England) | March | first | Tables 1 and 4. Add the four quarters together to get the yearly totals. In line with DCLG guidance, assume that those with dependent children are the same as those deemed 'in priority need' because they have dependent children. |
| second | Supplementary table by local authority. Add the four quarters together to get the yearly totals. |
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| June | third | Table 5. Use the first quarter of each year. Limited to those deemed 'in priority need'. |
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| fourth | Table 2. Use the first quarter of each year. Limited to those deemed 'in priority need'. |
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| fifth | Table 6. Use the first quarter of each year. Add in the equivalent data for Scotland and Wales to obtain Great Britain-wide figures. |
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| sixth | Table 7. Use the first quarter of each year. |
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| seventh | Table 9. Use the first quarter of each year. |
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| Scottish Government statistics - homelessness section | Homelessness (Scotland) | September | first | Tables 2.1a and 2.1b. |
| second | Table 12. |
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| third | Table 9a. |
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| fourth | Table 14. |
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| Welsh Assembly Government - housing statistics section | Homelessness (Wales) | April | first and second | Tables 1 and 5. Add the four quarters together to get the yearly totals. By definition, all households deemed 'not in priority need' do not have dependent children. Excludes the intentionally homeless. |
| third | Table 9. Add the four quarters together to get the yearly totals. Limited to those both deemed 'in priority need' and unintentionally homeless. |
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| fourth | Table 5. Add the four quarters together to get the yearly totals. |
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| July | fifth | Table 3. Use the first quarter of each year. |
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| Department for Social Development - housing statistics section | Homelessness (Northern Ireland) | October | first and second | Table 3.5. |
| third | Table 3.4. |
Miscellany
Use made on this website
| Indicator | Graphs | Website | Update timing | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unmet housing need | first | Homes and Communities Agency | July | Need to find the annual reports. Then need to search through these to find the figures. |
| Mortgage re-possessions | first | Ministry of Justice (MoJ) Mortgage and landlord possession statistics | March |
Table 1 Note that the Council for Mortgage Lenders website - statistics section is no longer operational because, as from 2008, they have ceased publishing any statistics. Also note that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) website - mortgage lending section also has some re-possession data (done on a different basis). The two sets of data are, however, not directly comparable: whereas the MoJ data is actual re-possessions, the FSA data is the number of individual loan accounts in possession; and whereas the MoJ data is for 1st charge loans only, the FSA data also includes 2nd and subsequent charge loans (where the borrower takes an extra loan from another lender) where these lenders report their loan accounts as a possession. The net result is that, for any particular year, the FSA numbers are somewhat higher than the MoJ ones; for example, in 2007, the FSA number of 27,900 compares with a MoJ figure of 25,900. |
| Housing Benefit | third | DWP Housing Benefit Operational Database | Quarterly | PM3 new claims decided within 14 days. |