Social Rented Housing: Housing Occupancy – Parliamentary Written Answer

Mrs Mensch: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of social homes which are under-occupied in (a) each local authority area, (b) each region and (c) England.
Grant Shapps: It is estimated that 423,000 households were under-occupying in the social rented sector in England in 2009-10. This estimate is a three year average based on data from the Survey of English Housing (2007-08) and the English Housing Survey (2008-09 and 2009-10). Households are said to be under-occupying if they have at least two bedrooms more than they need as measured by the bedroom standard. Regional estimates for 2009-10 are due to be published on 5 July 2011 in the English Housing Survey Household Report 2009-10. It is not possible to provide estimates at local authority level as sample sizes are too small.