Landlords are the real winners in the UK housing market
An interesting picture of the changing face of the UK housing market is provided by an analysis of census data by estate agency Savills, given exclusively to the FT.
The private rented sector is the main success story – it’s the only part of the market to have increased in value since the recession, and now makes up 17 per cent of the UK’s housing stock by units and 18 per cent by value, Savills found.
Ealing and Kensington: a tale of two London cities
Today’s census data release offers a fascinating picture of linguistic diversity in England and Wales. In particular, it sheds useful light on London’s population.
The capital city differs strongly from the rest of the country in its demographic profile. But at a more granular level, the city contains some striking contrasts. In fact, in some ways it seems to be two cities, each living on top of, but almost invisible to, the other (a concept that will be familiar to fans of novelist China Mieville). Read more
British workers: a nation on the move
Britain is increasingly becoming a country of people who are on the move in search of work, data from the 2011 census reveals.
Nearly 189,000 people in England and Wales are living away from home for work-related reasons, the census found. This is the second-largest category of people with second addresses (after students living away from home), and exceeds the 165,095 people who told the census they use a second address for holidays.
The census asked people whether they had a second address for the first time in 2011, so figures for previous decades are not available. However the Office for National Statistics noted that “an increasing number of people in the UK have more than one residence … This situation led to the need for a new question to collect information on second addresses … [to] help local authorities to plan local services.”
The results make it possible to identify areas of the country with the highest proportions of people with work-related second addresses. All but one of these areas are in London (see table 1, below).
A look at recent figures for the number of job vacancies per unemployment benefit claimant shows that these areas have wildly differing levels of job availability (table 2). This suggests that the search for employment opportunities is not the driving factor.
So what is the cause? Read more
MPs warn scrapping census could undermine evidence-based policymaking
Scrapping the UK census could seriously undermine politicians’ ability to formulate evidence-based social policy, a committee of MPs has warned.
The Office for National Statistics is currently considering whether to abolish the national census, which has taken place every 10 years since 1801 (except for 1941, when it was cancelled as a result of the Second World War). The government has suggested that the census is too expensive – the 2011 census cost £480m.
Alternative data collection methods under consideration include making greater use of local administrative data sets and internet research methods. The ONS will reach a conclusion in 2014 about whether to carry out the 2021 census.
The Commons Science & Technology Committee has looked into the possible alternatives to the census. In a new report, it said that the social science benefits of the census “outweigh the financial costs”. It was “not convinced that the use of administrative data would be a cheaper option over a 10-year census cycle”, it said. Read more
First data shows largest population growth in UK census history
The population of England and Wales has grown by more than seven per cent since 2001, the first release of data from the 2011 census shows.
The estimate, based on the census taken on March 27 2011, recorded a population of 53.0 million in England and 3.1 million in Wales, representing an increase of 3.7 million in the decade since the 2001 census, which recorded a population of 52.4 million.
This increase of 7.1 per cent represents the largest growth in the population in England and Wales in any 10-year period since the 1911 census.
| About this blog | Blog guide |
Kate Allen works in the editorial statistics team in London. She previously specialised in housing data reporting for a national trade magazine.
Chris Cook works in the FT's comment team. After joining the FT in 2008 as a Peter Martin Fellow, he worked for two years as a leader writer and then as education correspondent.
Emily Cadman joined the FT in 2010 and is head of the interactive desk.
Martin Stabe works on the FT's interactive team, specialising in databases for interactive graphics.
Keith Fray heads the editorial statistics team, providing data for articles and graphics. His background is in economics, studying at Birkbeck College, London.
Norma Cohen is the FT's Demography Correspondent.
Valentina Romei is a statistical researcher at the FT. She joined the FT in 2008 after working both as an academic and market researcher.
