The particular data requested have not previously been published, but data on household size by tenure are published in the annual Survey of English Housing reports. The most recent data can be found in table 3 of the Survey of English Housing Preliminary Report 2007-08, available at:
www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/pdf/1133551.pdf
The following table provides estimates of the number of one-person households in each region for 1999 to 2008 inclusive. Estimates by region for the years previous to this could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The overall number of one-person households in England in 1981 was 3,823,000 and in 1991 it was 5,039,000. The estimates are based on data from the ONS Labour Force Survey.
Thousands of households Region 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 North East 309 318 332 340 339 351 337 350 340 362 North West 784 779 784 829 778 814 824 811 873 876 Yorks and Humberside 600 610 618 636 642 646 628 632 669 688 East Midlands 439 464 447 464 482 505 467 506 536 525 West Midlands 573 583 562 618 604 585 586 586 611 631 Eastern 584 609 619 617 593 605 625 653 631 665 London 878 896 899 902 922 889 876 878 837 859 South East 883 864 881 933 976 941 996 972 942 937 South West 568 577 596 613 616 596 594 622 633 610 Total 5,619 5,701 5,737 5,953 5,953 5,931 5,931 6,009 6,073 6,154 Source: ONS Labour Force Survey.