An occupancy rating shows whether a household is overcrowded or under-occupied. The analysis revealed that out of 23.4 million households, 1.1 million (4.5%) were overcrowded and that overcrowding was most likely to occur in socially rented (8.7%) and privately rented households (8.6%), compared to owner occupied (2.3%). However, most households (16.1 million) were under-occupied and 6.2 million had bedrooms at par with the standard. Owner occupied households were most likely to be under-occupied (82.7%), compared with privately rented (49.5%) and socially rented households (39.4%).

2011 Census data are also used to examine overcrowding and under-occupation for different ethnic groups using bedroom occupancy ratings, collected in the 2011 Census for the first time. As the analysis focuses on households rather than individual residents, the ethnic group of the Household Reference Person (HRP) is used to characterise each household’s ethnic group. The analysis includes sub-national data, including at local authority level.