Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The English House Condition Survey (EHCS) was a national survey of housing in England, commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The survey was originally called the National House Condition Survey and covered England and Wales. The information obtained through the survey provides an accurate picture of the type, condition and energy efficiency of housing in England, the people living there, and their views on housing and their neighbourhoods. The survey covers all tenure types.

The EHCS ran quinquennially from 1967-2001. From 2002, the survey moved to a continuous basis and the data were provided as a two-year rolling sample of approximately 16,000 cases (i.e. the data for 2003 cover information collected from April 2002 to March 2004, data for 2004 comprise information collected from April 2003 to March 2005). From April 2008, the EHCS merged with the Survey of English Housing (SEH) (available at the UK Data Archive under GN 33277) to form the English Housing Survey (EHS) (available at the Archive under GN 33422).

Further information can be found on the English House Condition Survey and English Housing Survey web pages.

The aim of the 1971 survey was to obtain data on various aspects of the physical condition of the permanent housing stock of England and Wales in order to compare house conditions in 1967 and 1971.

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Variables include tenure and age of dwelling, whether multi-occupied, number of rooms, amenities (whether shared), standard of heating, repair costs. General fitness of dwelling (under section 4 of the 1957 Housing Act). Car space available, whether dwellings front on to roads. For pre-1919 terrace houses, frontage and front/back garden length were also included.