Residents squeeze into London
Today the ONS released a household composition report, based on data taken from the 2011 census. This report shows things such as the size, tenure and composition of all households in the UK (Scotland isn’t included in the data). Comparing this release to 2001 there were several interesting findings, but the most visible across all the data is that the growth of London is drawing people in.
Looking at the map of the percentage of unoccupied houses (see left) there is a clear trend showing that the most unoccupied houses are in the regions and nations furthest from the capital, especially in Wales, the North and the South West. The general trend that can be seen is that as you move closer to London more of the housing stock is occupied, with London itself only showing lower levels of occupation in the very centre.
Focussing more on London itself, there is a definite shift in the composition of housing. Between 2001 and 2011 every region in the UK saw a growth in the number of one person households, apart from London which saw a decline. Comparing this to the percentage of households of 6 or more persons, London saw a massive increase, of almost 50%.
Proportions of six or more person households by region/country in England and Wales, 2001 and 2011:
Proportions of one person households by region/country in England and Wales, 2001 and 2011:
Source: Census - Office for National Statistics
This data clearly shows that London is attracting more and more people, yet there are not the houses to accommodate them. As more people move in on the city, the population are moving from their one person flats into large house shares. As more people squeeze into the city the question now is how to relieve the pressure, can we build more houses? Or should we reverse the trend and start filling those unoccupied houses across the UK?
Oliver Hicks-Pattison, Researcher, Tooley Street Research
May 29th 2014