To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many (a) households and (b) social housing households were identified by the English Housing Survey as having a non-UK national as head of household in the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. (253979)

Over the two years 2006-07 and 2007-08 there were, in England, an estimated:

(a) 1.5 million households headed by a foreign national;

(b) 310 thousand social housing households headed by a foreign national.

These figures were derived from the Survey of English Housing. The English Housing Survey started in April 2008 and the first estimates from this survey will be available in January 2010.

The definition of "foreign national" used above is consistent with that used in published results from the Survey of English Housing; namely a foreign national is someone who is not a national of the UK or Ireland.