Existing housing stock
To determine the minimum number of homes needed, strategic policies should be informed by a local housing need assessment, conducted using the standard method in national planning practice guidance. The standard method is a calculation informed by existing housing stock and affordability.
- Design stage
- Co-design
- Frequency of updates
- Annually
- Useful links
- Last updated
- 20 March 2025
Backlog
Who asked for 'Existing housing stock' data?
Claire, planning policy SME
What is the driver for the request?
National policy change
Which 2024 focus area does the request support?
Faster local plans
Screen
What is the 'Existing housing stock' consideration?
To determine the minimum number of homes needed, strategic policies should be informed by a local housing need assessment, conducted using the standard method in national planning practice guidance. The standard method is a calculation informed by existing housing stock and affordability. Existing housing stock is a dataset provided by MHCLG using ONS census data
Is there legislation that defines 'Existing housing stock'?
No
Which organisations do we think should publish the data?
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
Is the Existing housing stock something to consult during plan making?
Yes
Provide information about when Existing housing stock is used during plan making
Housing need is an unconstrained assessment of the minimum number of homes needed in an area. Assessing housing need is the first step in the process of deciding how many homes need to be planned for.
The housing requirement is the minimum number of homes that a plan seeks to provide during the plan period.
To determine the minimum number of homes needed, strategic policies should be informed by a local housing need assessment, conducted using the standard method in national planning practice guidance. The standard method is a calculation informed by existing housing stock and affordability.
Once local housing need has been assessed, as set out in this guidance, authorities should then make an assessment of the amount of new homes that can be provided in their area. This should be justified by evidence on land availability, constraints on development and any other relevant matters.
Is there any Existing housing stock data already available?
Yes
What Existing housing stock data is currently available?
- Dwelling stock estimates by local authority district (publisher: MHCLG; coverage: National; licence: unknown; fields: Old ONS code;New ONS code;Area;2001;2002;2003;2004;2005;2006;2007;2008;2009;2010;2011;2012;2013;2014;2015;2016;2017;2018;2019;2020;2021;2022;2023)
Do we think the data should come from a single source?
Yes, the data is nationally available through MHCLG's Live tables on dwelling stock.
Will a data standard be required?
No
Research
Where will or should the data be used?
The data will predominantly be used in calculating a local authorities housing need.
What other planning considerations does it interact with?
Local housing need, 5 yeah housing land supply, housing and economic land supply, housing delivery test, housing numbers, local plans
Other than the statutory consultees who are the primary users of Existing housing stock? How do we expect them to use Existing housing stock?
LPAs, developers, planning consultants
What are the planning needs for this data?
Housing need is an unconstrained assessment of the minimum number of homes needed in an area. Assessing housing need is the first step in the process of deciding how many homes need to be planned for.
The housing requirement is the minimum number of homes that a plan seeks to provide during the plan period.
To determine the minimum number of homes needed, strategic policies should be informed by a local housing need assessment, conducted using the standard method in national planning practice guidance. The standard method is a calculation informed by existing housing stock and affordability.
Once local housing need has been assessed, as set out in this guidance, authorities should then make an assessment of the amount of new homes that can be provided in their area. This should be justified by evidence on land availability, constraints on development and any other relevant matters.
Who are the types of users who might benefit from having access to Existing housing stock data?
LPAs, developers, planning consultants
What are some potential uses of Existing housing stock data?
Having the data on the platform will allow for people to calculate a LPA's local housing need
What's the value of adding Existing housing stock data to the platform?
Having the data on the platform will allow for people to calculate a LPA's local housing need
From what we have learnt so far are there any risks to making Existing housing stock data available?
This dataset is an estimation. No data is collected directly for this statistical release. Instead, it draws on information from a range of data sources to compile a coherent set of statistics on the total number of dwellings and the tenure profile of the stock. The statistical sources used are: * Census 2001 (Office for National Statistics) * Census 2011 (Office for National Statistics) * Census 2021 (Office for National Statistics) * Housing Supply: Net Additional Dwellings (Department for Levelling Up, - Housing and Communities) * Local Authority Housing Statistics (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) * Statistical Data Return (Regulator of Social Housing) * Labour Force Survey (Office for National Statistics) * English Housing Survey (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) * Standard Area Measurements (Office for National Statistics)