[holding answer 25 April 2008]: Nationally, the English House Condition Survey (EHCS) is used to monitor house conditions and has been carried out and reported every five years until 2001 and annually from 2003. The survey provides the following national estimates of non-decency for all sectors from 2001 to the latest date available, 2006:
Number (Thousand) 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 Local authorities 1,174 975 816 729 695 Private rented 1,101 1,056 994 1,003 1,055 Owner-occupied 4,316 4,219 4,066 3,822 3,704 Registered social landlords 472 467 437 433 436 Notes: 1. Base = all dwellings. 2. RSL figures are affected by transfers from local authority stock over the period. Figures are based on the old Fitness definition of the Decent Homes Standard. Source: English House Condition Survey.
The EHCS cannot provide robust regional figures for each tenure on an annual basis. However, the following regional aggregates for local authorities (LAs) and registered social landlords (RSLs) have been reported by local authorities in their Business Plan Statistical Appendix (BPSA) returns and by housing associations in the Housing Corporation's Regulatory Statistical Return (RSR):
Region 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 North East 117,000 112,000 100,000 94,000 91,000 76,000 Yorkshire and Humber 145,000 190,000 188,000 142,000 113,000 96,000 East Midland 80,000 83,000 67,000 60,000 54,000 46,000 East of England 77,000 71,000 64,000 56,000 40,000 39,000 London 280,000 264,000 241,000 215,000 174,000 152,000 South East 84,000 75,000 81,000 68,000 59,000 49,000 South West 54,000 52,000 49,000 40,000 35,000 27,000 West Midland 169,000 134,000 111,000 108,000 91,000 70,000 North West 174,000 146,000 118,000 103,000 78,000 63,000 1 Rounded to nearest thousand. Notes: 1. The BPSA started collecting data on non-decency for the period 2001-02. 2. Non-decent stock reported by local authorities is a snapshot figure as at 1 April each year. 3. The data are based on actual reporting and there is no imputation to account for missing values. Source: Business Plan Statistical Appendix.
Region 2005 2006 2007 North East 23,031 16,693 14,600 Yorkshire and Humber 52,460 38,224 37,255 East Midland 11,875 10,477 10,152 East of England 25,452 24,490 22,482 London 48,521 48,564 36,736 South East 37,924 30,478 24,538 South West 27,793 25,011 22,905 West Midland 45,347 35,447 22,056 North West 70,056 67,371 63,499 Note: 2005 was the first year in which data were collected by local authority enabling regional breakdowns. Source: Housing Corporation's Regulatory Statistical Return.