English Housing Survey

You can read the latest reports for 2023-24 and reports going back to 2009 on the GOV.UK website. The English Housing Survey (EHS) is commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The EHS is carried out by the National Centre for Social Research, working with Building Research Establishment and CA Design Services.

About the study

The English Housing Survey (EHS) is a national survey of people’s housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England. It is one of the longest standing government surveys and was first run in 1967.

The latest findings from the English Housing Survey are on housing quality and energy efficiency.

This is the second release of data from the 2023-24 survey. This report will be followed by a series of more detailed topic reports in the spring and summer of 2025.

Key findings from the latest reports

• The overall rate of overcrowding in England in 2023-24 was 3%, similar to previous years. There was a decrease in the proportion of underoccupied dwellings in the private rented sector from 16% in 2022-23 to 13% in 2023-24.
• There was a decrease in the overall prevalence of non-decent homes compared to pre-pandemic estimates: from 17% in 2019 to 15% in 2023. Across tenure, there were decreases in the owner occupied sector (from 16% to 14%) and the social rented sector (from 12% to 10%) over that time, but no statistically significant decrease in the private rented sector.
• In 2023, Category 1 hazards remained more prevalent in the private rented sector (10%) than the owner occupied sector (8%) and the social rented sector (4%). However, since 2021, there was a decrease in the prevalence of Category 1 hazards in the private rented sector from 14%, and the owner occupied sector from 10%. From 2019 to 2021, the prevalence of Category 1 hazards remained unchanged across all tenures, and this statistically significant drop has only taken place in the last 2 years.
• In 2023, 5% of dwellings in England had a problem with damp, higher than in any of the last 5 years (3-4%). Damp increased across all tenures since 2019, and was more prevalent in the private rented sector (9%), compared to the social rented sector (7%) and owner occupied sector (4%).
• In 2023, serious condensation was more prevalent in homes (3%) than rising damp (2%) and penetrating damp (2%). Within the social rented sector, local authority dwellings were more likely to have serious condensation (7%) than housing association dwellings (4%).
• Over the last 10 years, the proportion of homes in the highest energy efficiency bands A to C increased from 23% to 52%, while the proportion within the lowest bands of E to G decreased (26% to 9%).
• The estimated average cost to improve dwellings to at least an energy efficiency band C was £7,320 across all tenures, with owner occupied dwellings costing the most and social rented homes costing the least.
• Owner occupied and local authority homes had the highest proportion of central heating (both 95%), followed by housing association homes (91%). Private rented homes had the lowest proportion of central heating (86%).
• Loft and wall insulation increased over the last 10 years. Around 40% of dwellings had loft insulation (over 200mm thickness), an increase from 37% in 2013. Just over half (53%) of dwellings had cavity or solid wall insulation (up from 46% in 2013) and 89% of homes had full double glazing, up from 80% of homes in 2013.
• In 2023-24, owner occupiers (59%) and social renters (53%) were more likely to report having an electricity smart meter, compared to private renters (47%).

Methodology

The EHS is a large-scale complex survey with two stages: an interview in all selected homes and a visual inspection by a qualified surveyor of a subsample of homes. The EHS is conducted throughout the year across England. The sample is scientifically chosen to represent the wider English population. The EHS is currently carried out by a consortium of the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), Building Research Establishment (BRE) and CA Design Services (CADS).