English Housing Survey, 2014-2015: Household Data

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The English Housing Survey (EHS) is a continuous national survey commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Community and Local Government (MHCLG) 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. The information obtained through the survey provides an accurate picture of people living in the dwelling, and their views on housing and their neighbourhoods. The survey is also used to inform the development and monitoring of the Ministry'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 12,000 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 will only include derived variables. In addition the number of variables on the new EUL datasets has been reduced and disclosure control increased on certain remaining variables. New Special Licence versions of the EHS will be deposited later in the year, which will be of a similar nature to previous EHS EUL datasets and will include 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, 2014-2015: Household Data comprises the derived interview data for all cases where an interview has been completed. Datasets are provided for single financial years together with annual weights. The survey consists of a detailed interview using a CAPI based program. An interview is first conducted with the householder. General topics and concepts covered include household characteristics, satisfaction with the home and the area, disability and adaptations to the home, ownership and rental details and income details. The household data should be used for any analysis where only information from the household interview is required. Users who also require data from the physical survey should use the English Housing Survey, 2014: Housing Stock Data (SN 8010). For the second edition (September 2016), new versions of the data files were deposited. Some variables have been made more compatible with the EHS Fuel Poverty dataset, by removing bottom-coding of Ahcinceq and top-coding of Amthbenx, Mortwkx, Rentwkx and Rentexs. Also, the labelling of variables Nssech9 and Nssecp9 have been amended to reflect that the number of categories have been condensed to nine. The documentation remains unchanged. Main Topics:The main topics covered include: general tenure and demographics; household income and housing costs; housing needs; housing aspirations and satisfaction; housing moves; and vulnerable and disadvantaged households