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- 1. Navigate to Main facts and figures section
- 2. Navigate toRenting from a private landlord by ethnicity section
- 3. Navigate toRenting from a private landlord by ethnicity and socio-economic group section
- 4. Navigate toRenting from a private landlord by ethnicity and income section
- 5. Navigate toRenting from a private landlord by ethnicity and area section
- 6. Navigate toRenting from a private landlord by ethnicity and age section
- 7. Navigate to Methodology section
- 8. Navigate to Data sources section
- 9. Navigate to Download the data section
1. Main facts and figures
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4.4 million of the 22.6 million households in England in 2015/16 rented their home from a private landlord – 20% of households
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some ethnic minority households were more likely to rent their home from a private landlord than White British households
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in all socio-economic groups, regions of the country, age groups and most income bands White British households were less likely to rent from a private landlord than those from any other ethnic group, including White ethnic minorities
Things you need to know
Compared with White British households, ethnic minority households tend to be younger, to have lived in England for a shorter time and to be located in urban areas. They are also likely to live in larger households and in rented accommodation.
To ensure that there is a large enough number of ethnic minority households to produce reliable findings, the data is drawn from the English Housing Survey (EHS) 2014/15 and 2015/16.
Information about households available from the EHS Headline and Annual Reports is normally based on a 12-month period (April to March) single year of the survey, so some of the statistics cited here may not match those in the Headline and Annual Reports.
The commentary has focused on findings based on subgroups of at least 30 households to ensure that we report reliable findings.
The number of Gypsies and Irish travellers interviewed is very small. To avoid disclosing personal information about individuals in those groups, information about them is not presented in some of the tables or charts.
The English Housing Survey (EHS) is a ‘sample survey’: it collects information from a random sample of the population to make generalisations (reach 'findings’) about the total population.
For example, EHS findings might include the percentage of households who get help from their family to buy their own home.
The commentary for this data only includes reliable, or ‘statistically significant’, findings.
Findings are statistically significant when we can be confident that they are reflective of the total population rather than just the survey sample.
What the data measures
This data measures how likely people from different ethnic groups are to rent their home from a private landlord.
Privately rented housing covers property which is not rented from local authorities (including Arms’ Length Management Organisations and housing action trusts), housing associations, local housing companies, co-operatives and charitable trusts.
The private rented sector also includes accommodation that is tied to a job or made available rent-free.
The figures are drawn from the 2014/15 and 2015/16 English Housing Survey (EHS). The survey involves face-to-face interviews with about 13,300 randomly selected households every year.
These are used to make estimates for the 22 million households in England as a whole.
The EHS is a national survey of people's housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of homes in England.
The information relates to households. A household is one person or a group of people (not necessarily related) who have the accommodation as their only or main residence. If it is a group, they must share cooking facilities and also share a living room, sitting room or dining area.
The EHS has ethnicity information on the household reference person as well as all other members of the household. The household reference person is the person in whose name the dwelling is owned or rented or who is otherwise responsible for the accommodation.
Some households contain people from different ethnic backgrounds; in these circumstances, we have used the ethnic background of the household reference person to define the ethnic background of the household.
Nearly all the household reference persons – more than 99.8% interviewed – provided information on their ethnicity.
At the geographical level, the data is shown for the nine regions of England: North East, North West, Yorkshire & Humberside, East Midlands, West Midlands, East, London, South East and the South West.
The ethnic categories used in this data
For comparisons made at national level, this data uses the standardised ethnic groups based on the 2011 census.
White:
- English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British
- Irish
- Gypsy, Traveller or Irish Traveller
- Any other White background
Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups:
- White and Black Caribbean
- White and Black African
- White and Asian
- Any other Mixed/Multiple ethnic background
Asian/Asian British:
- Indian
- Pakistani
- Bangladeshi
- Chinese
- Any other Asian background
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British:
- African
- Caribbean
- Any other Black/African/Caribbean background
Other ethnic group:
- Arab
- Any other ethnic group
For data analysed both by ethnicity and by socio-economic group, income, region and age the following binary category has been used:
- White British and Other – White British people compared with all other groups (including White ethnic minorities and all other ethnic minorities)
This is because the number of people that were surveyed to generate estimates for the population as a whole becomes too small to be reliable when broken down both by ethnicity (in either detailed or broad categories) and by another factor like socio-economic group or income.
Data is therefore grouped to a size where estimates become reliable. In this case, information broken down by ethnicity and another factor compares White British with Other.
2. Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity
| Ethnicity | % | Private renters | All households |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asian | |||
| Bangladeshi | 19 | 19,000 | 98,000 |
| Chinese | 53 | 68,000 | 129,000 |
| Indian | 25 | 125,000 | 504,000 |
| Pakistani | 26 | 86,000 | 333,000 |
| Asian other | 44 | 95,000 | 218,000 |
| Black | |||
| Black African | 31 | 114,000 | 368,000 |
| Black Caribbean | 17 | 48,000 | 289,000 |
| Black other | 18 | 7,000 | 38,000 |
| Mixed | |||
| Mixed White/Asian | 14 | 9,000 | 66,000 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 41 | 33,000 | 80,000 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 36 | 36,000 | 99,000 |
| Mixed other | 31 | 10,000 | 32,000 |
| White | |||
| White British | 16 | 2,995,000 | 18,808,000 |
| White Irish | 16 | 30,000 | 184,000 |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable | withheld because a small sample size makes it unreliable |
| White other | 55 | 594,000 | 1,078,000 |
| Other | |||
| Arab | 48 | 30,000 | 63,000 |
| Any other | 44 | 100,000 | 227,000 |
Download table data for ‘Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Renting from a private landlord Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity Summary
This data shows that:
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16% of White British householders rented their home from a private landlord
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Other White, Chinese and Arab households had higher rates of renting their home from a private landlord, with rates of 55%, 53%, and 48% respectively
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although the survey estimates show Other Mixed households have higher rates of private renting compared to White British households in this sample, these are not reliable enough to draw any conclusions about differences between these groups in the total population
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similarly, although the survey estimates for Bangladeshi, Other Black, Black Caribbean, White Irish and Mixed White and Asian households in this sample show differences in the rate of private renting compared to White British these are not reliable enough to draw any conclusions about differences between these groups in the total population
3. Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and socio-economic group
| White British | All other ethnic groups | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socio-economic group | White British % | White British Private renters | White British All households | All other ethnic groups % | All other ethnic groups Private renters | All other ethnic groups All households |
| Higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations | 14 | 1,036,824 | 7,635,539 | 35 | 490,968 | 1,400,849 |
| Intermediate occupations | 16 | 624,600 | 3,857,408 | 35 | 243,998 | 702,682 |
| Routine and manual occupations | 18 | 1,114,270 | 6,260,530 | 39 | 513,697 | 1,311,313 |
Download table data for ‘Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and socio-economic group’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and socio-economic group’ (CSV)
Summary of Renting from a private landlord Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and socio-economic group Summary
This data shows that:
- in every socio-economic group, White British households were less likely to rent their home from a private landlord than all other ethnic minority households
4. Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and income
| White British | All other ethnic groups | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly income | White British % | White British Private renters | White British All households | All other ethnic groups % | All other ethnic groups Private renters | All other ethnic groups All households |
| Up to £99 | 33 | 59,711 | 183,039 | 36 | 23,448 | 64,744 |
| £100 to £199 | 18 | 294,709 | 1,623,813 | 39 | 123,561 | 319,019 |
| £200 to £299 | 18 | 413,386 | 2,290,104 | 28 | 108,725 | 382,066 |
| £300 to £399 | 19 | 395,618 | 2,121,559 | 44 | 216,102 | 490,875 |
| £400 to £499 | 19 | 339,283 | 1,793,046 | 38 | 150,078 | 399,204 |
| £500 to £599 | 19 | 315,439 | 1,641,076 | 46 | 156,464 | 343,358 |
| £600 to £699 | 16 | 251,076 | 1,521,753 | 39 | 122,579 | 312,920 |
| £700 to £799 | 16 | 193,288 | 1,234,900 | 42 | 110,892 | 266,681 |
| £800 to £899 | 13 | 147,330 | 1,099,098 | 37 | 77,255 | 209,729 |
| £900 to £999 | 13 | 111,590 | 875,735 | 35 | 65,557 | 188,360 |
| £1000 and above | 11 | 474,060 | 4,424,028 | 30 | 248,789 | 831,408 |
Download table data for ‘Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and income’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and income’ (CSV)
Summary of Renting from a private landlord Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and income Summary
This data shows that:
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in all income bands except the lowest, White British households were less likely to rent from a private landlord than all other ethnic groups
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although the survey estimates show differences in the rates of private renting for those earning less than £99 a week in this sample, these are not reliable enough to draw any conclusions about the differences between White British and ethnic minority households in the total population
5. Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and area
| White British | All other ethnic groups | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | White British % | White British Private renters | White British All households | All other ethnic groups % | All other ethnic groups Private renters | All other ethnic groups All households |
| North East | 15 | 166,112 | 1,082,079 | 33 | 20,254 | 60,660 |
| North West | 16 | 448,408 | 2,726,087 | 29 | 96,736 | 332,876 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 18 | 358,938 | 1,993,215 | 33 | 83,830 | 251,038 |
| East Midlands | 15 | 263,127 | 1,716,315 | 35 | 77,504 | 223,700 |
| West Midlands | 14 | 283,525 | 1,973,387 | 29 | 102,212 | 355,356 |
| East | 15 | 316,312 | 2,179,257 | 39 | 124,001 | 316,271 |
| London | 19 | 326,889 | 1,721,643 | 37 | 599,610 | 1,615,633 |
| South East | 15 | 470,422 | 3,196,339 | 46 | 228,055 | 492,775 |
| South West | 16 | 361,757 | 2,220,374 | 45 | 71,249 | 160,054 |
Download table data for ‘Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and area’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and area’ (CSV)
Summary of Renting from a private landlord Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and area Summary
This data shows that:
- in all regions, ethnic minority households were more likely to privately rent their home than White British households
6. Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and age
| White British | All other ethnic groups | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age group | White British % | White British Private renters | White British All households | All other ethnic groups % | All other ethnic groups Private renters | All other ethnic groups All households |
| 16 - 24 yrs old | 64 | 349,592 | 547,604 | 78 | 163,159 | 209,064 |
| 25 - 34 yrs old | 40 | 959,728 | 2,400,150 | 62 | 546,719 | 888,814 |
| 35 - 44 yrs old | 21 | 613,464 | 2,909,500 | 37 | 384,650 | 1,043,931 |
| 45 - 54 yrs old | 12 | 454,510 | 3,746,787 | 24 | 193,390 | 795,069 |
| 55 - 64 yrs old | 9 | 293,670 | 3,240,797 | 17 | 74,074 | 426,164 |
| 65 yrs old or over | 5 | 324,525 | 5,963,859 | 9 | 41,457 | 445,322 |
Download table data for ‘Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and age’ (CSV) Source data for ‘Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and age’ (CSV)
Summary of Renting from a private landlord Renting from a private landlord by ethnicity and age Summary
- in all age groups, White British households were less likely to rent from a private landlord than all other ethnic groups, including White ethnic minorities
7. Methodology
Face-to-face interviews with a random sample of about 13,300 households a year.
The dwellings of about 6,000 of the interviewed households are randomly selected to take part in the physical survey element carried out by a qualified surveyor.
In addition, a random sample of around 200 of the dwellings identified by the interviewer as vacant are also included in the physical survey element.
Weighting:
Weighting is used to adjust the results of a survey to make them representative of the population.
For example, a survey which contains 25% females and 75% males will not accurately reflect the views of the general population which we know is around 50% male and 50% female.
Statisticians rebalance or ‘weight’ the survey results to more accurately represent the general population. In the EHS, weighting makes the results more representative of the 22.6 million households in England.
Suppression rules and disclosure control
Estimates based on less than 30 households have been suppressed to ensure that we report reliable findings.
The analysis has been done only by binary classification where broken down by NS-SEC, income, region or age. This prevents small numbers' appearing in the table and avoids the potential for identification of individuals. The data are deposited in the UK Data Archive, after a wide range of disclosure control has been applied.
Strictly disclosure controlled data in the form of derived variables are available under the End-User Licence (e.g. ethnicity is given as white/ethnic minority).
Data sets with some more details are made available under Special Licence after the users has applied to the EHS Team for access.
Potentially disclosive data, including low-level geography variables (postcode and LSOA) are available only through the UKDA Secure Access which requires users to undergo special training, including on disclosure control, before access is given.
Rounding
Estimates in the charts and tables are given to the nearest whole number but more detailed estimates to 1 decimal place are available in the downloads.
Related publications
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/english-housing-survey
Quality and methodology information
8. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Note on corrections or updates
Information published in the EHS headline report and other annual reports is usually based on a 12-month period, rather than the 2 years’ combined data used here. As a result, the statistics shown here may not match those in the EHS reports.
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The English Housing Survey is a continuous national survey commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. It collects information about people’s housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England.
9. Download the data
This file contains the following: ethnicity, year, geography, age group, NS-SEC (socio-economic group), income, region, value, denominator, numerator and sample size