ONS housing affordability:
latest data, new products,
new research
Tim Pateman
Senior researcher
Subnational Statistics and Analysis Division (SSA)
ONS housing affordability

ONS housing affordability
Housing statistics available from many teams
Housing
Market Indices
Housing
Analysis
Housing
Coherence
Admin based housing
characteristics
ONS housing
teams
DWP –
housing benefit
DLUHC – Live tables,
analysis, EHS
Personal and household
projections
Land
Registry
Valuation
office agency
+ others England + UK
Welsh
Government
Scottish
Government
National
Records
Scotland
Dept. of
Communities NI
NI Housing
Executive
Dept. of
finance NI
Wales, Scotland
and Northern
Ireland
Cross-government housing and planning statistics work programmes
UK housing and plannings statistics interactive dashboard

Products I’m covering in this webinar
Release Coverage & geography Concept Test
Housing affordability
(inherited from DLUHC)
England and Wales, to
local authority level
HPSSA house prices /
ASHE individual
earnings
Homes sold in an area
are 5 times the earnings
of people who work
there
Housing purchase
affordability
England to regional
level, Wales, Scotland
HPPSA house prices /
HFS household incomes
Homes sold in an area
are 5 times household
income
Private rental
affordabilty
England to regional
level, Wales, NI
PRMS / admin data
rents / FRS income of
renting households
An area’s rents are 30%
of an area’s income
The dream is to get household level data
ONS housing affordability

ONS housing affordability
Questions and queries to…
Better.info@ons.gov.uk - Housing Analysis Team e.g. Tim
Pateman
Emily.nethsingha@ons.gov.uk – ONS Local housing lead

ONS housing affordability
Housing affordability in England and Wales: 2022
• Annual, released 22 March
• Compares prices of homes sold in each LA / county /
region / country to the local workplace-based earnings
• Bulletin comes with interactive content
• Produced for LAs existing in March 23 + those 2014-21
Workplace-based earnings, all
dwellings
Workplace-based earnings, new
dwellings
Workplace-based earnings, existing
dwellings
Residence-based earnings, all dwellings Residence-based earnings, new
dwellings
Residence-based earnings, existing
dwellings

ONS housing affordability
Local authorities by
region interactive chart

Mapping affordability,
house prices, and
earnings over time
Local authority
areas whose
housing cost less
than 5 times
workers’ earnings:
1997 - 270
2020 - 27
2022 - 23
ONS housing affordability

Do areas with lower earnings translate into
lower house prices?
Region Local Authority House
price, £
Workplace
-based
earnings, £
Affordability
2022
North West Copeland 129,950 45,300 2.87
North West Barrow-in-Furness 136,250 34,800 3.92
North West Hyndburn 122,000 29,900 4.08
North East Hartlepool 125,000 30,300 4.12
North East County Durham 120,000 27,700 4.34
Wales Neath Port Talbot 143,750 32,800 4.38
North East Middlesbrough 130,000 29,600 4.39
ONS housing affordability

ONS housing affordability
Recent changes - local
• Parts of Greater Manchester and Wales have seen the greatest house price
increases in the past few years
• Statistical digest rural England shows urban / rural differences are
increasing
• General London commuter effect continues to affect affordability in areas
within easy reach or adjacent to London
• Residence and workplace earnings not showing obvious effects of the
increase in home working yet

ONS housing affordability
Latest changes - national

ONS housing affordability
Impact of covid-19 – house prices
• Stamp Duty / Land Transaction Tax changes late 2021
• Sales decreasing, increasing in late 2021, then decreasing to
below average again
• No specific data collection effects
documented; but lots of shifting trends

ONS housing affordability
Impact of covid-19 – earnings
• Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) estimates were
affected by changes in composition of the workforce and the
impact of furlough (the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme)
• Data collection was disrupted
• Response rates were lower for 2020 and 2021
While house prices are driving the trends; there is greater volatility
in the local estimates because earnings is drawn from a survey.
See bulletin and Quality and Methodology Information report.

Media reaction
ONS housing affordability

ONS housing affordability
Housing purchase affordability GB: 2021
• Annual, released 28 July
• Compares deciles of equivalised disposable household
income to same prices of sold houses as ‘housing
affordability’
• Bulletin analyses time series and deciles
• Tables give house prices, incomes, and then each price
decile compared with each income decile for England,
Wales, Scotland and English regions

ONS housing affordability
Income useful, but patterns comparable to earnings
•in England, £275,000 for median
house price and £31,800 for
median income, which is
equivalent to a ratio of 8.7 years
of income
•in Wales, £176,000 for median
house price and £29,400 for
median income, which is a ratio
of 6.0 years of income
•in Scotland, £166,000 for
median house price and £30,300
for median income, which is a
ratio of 5.5 years of income

Deciles add useful nuance
ONS housing affordability

ONS housing affordability
Private rental affordability, England, Wales and
Northern Ireland: 2021
• Annual, released 18 December
• Monthly rent estimates are compared with the gross
monthly incomes of private renting households for the
same country or region,
• Bulletin provides lots of regional comparisons
• Tables showing quartiles of rents, quartiles of incomes,
and comparing each to each by country and region

ONS housing affordability
Comparing rents and incomes
• England - £730 monthly rent was the
equivalent of 26% of an average
household income of £2,825 per month
• Wales - £550 monthly rent was the
equivalent of 23% of an average
household income of £2,350
• Northern Ireland - £600 monthly rent was
the equivalent of 23% of an average
household income of £2,605

Countries fall below this affordability measure;
regions vary
ONS housing affordability

ONS housing affordability
Substantial variability between different income
groups

Broad conclusions
• Income is the key trend with private-rental affordability – lower income
households have poor affordability for many years and across countries/
regions
• Meanwhile purchasing a home has changed, with house prices changing very
substantially relative to earnings in most parts of England and Wales
• Some area’s housing markets are more affordable and/or more homogenous
than others – mainly Scotland and the North East; but pockets of the North
West and Wales are also least unaffordable. A ‘commuter geography’ affects
south East, East and potentially other areas, especially for lower earners.
ONS housing affordability

ONS housing affordability
Changes we anticipate
• ONS household projections project 7.1% more households in England
between 2018 and 2028 (160,000 a year)
• I expect housing tenure to continue to become more heterogenous – fewer
in owner occupation with a mortgage, more in private rent or owning
outright
• Cost of living impacts are expected to emerge – but once it affects whole
groups of households, for a whole year

New ONS cost of living release & housing
Survey analysis, by tenure:
• Expenditure - ‘How increases in
housing costs impact households’
• Financial vulnerability ‘Impact of
increased cost of living on adults
across Great Britain’
• What actions people have taken 'What
actions are people taking because of
the rising cost of living?'
• Worries: 'Worries about the rising costs
of living, Great Britain'
Compilations
- ‘The cost of living, current and
upcoming work’ series
- The ‘cost of living’ insights tool'
ONS housing affordability

ONS housing affordability
Other releases to be aware of
Insulation and Energy Efficiency of Housing in England and Wales
2022 (3rd of May 2023)
• Covers subnational distribution of roof and wall insulation
ratings
• investigates energy efficiency trends over the past 10 years

ONS housing affordability
Subnational tenure estimates
• Annual, released 27 February
The tenure distribution differs in local
authorities – this chart shows the LA
with the highest percentage on each
tenure, and their distribution.
• Comparison piece to be published in
May, comparing these estimates to
Census 2021 data to assess quality.

ONS housing affordability
Census 2021
Topic summaries
• Housing
• Communal establishment residents
• People with second addresses
Census Maps Upcoming releases
• Household data available
on cantabular
• March 30th: Data at the
dwelling level, with
comparison to 2011.
• May 19th: Tenure by
household
characteristics.

Energy efficiency of dwellings in your area
Energy efficiency of housing in England and Wales -
Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk)
• Research Questions include: At a local level..
- How energy efficient are properties?
- What is the main fuel type used for central
heating?
- Are there differences in energy efficiency by
housing variables including property type/age
Pilot project of the Integrated Data Service (IDS)
- Involve stakeholders VOA, Welsh Government, BEIS,
DLUHC, Ordinance Survey
ONS housing affordability

Analytical lessons
• Devolution makes things tricky – with OSR’s help we’re working towards a
set of UK measures
• We have been told a range of simple measures is more useful than fewer
complex academic-style measures
• Looking at household income deciles and/or by housing tenure, can show
very strong trends, that really affect people’s lives (as can cutting data by
tenure)
ONS housing affordability

ONS housing affordability
We’re always keen to hear more on…
• Which housing affordability stats / visualisations do you
use, and for what purpose?
In general:
• What platforms would you like to use to obtain housing
stats?
• What UK –level stats are missing?
• What other geographies, beyond LA, are useful?

ONS housing affordability
Come and talk to us!
Better.info@ons.gov.uk
Emily.nethsingha@ons.gov.uk
– ONS Local housing lead
Cross-government housing and planning
statistics work programmes
UK housing and plannings statistics interactive
dashboard