Houses of Multiple Occupancy in the UK

FOI ref: FOI/2022/4585

You asked

​I am doing a freedom of information request, I would like information on the number of people in the UK, England and London residing in house share accommodation (for the most recent year that information is recorded and three years subsequent). I want this to not only include Houses of Multiple Occupancy, but also house shares when there are under 5 occupants, including joint tenancy agreements.

We said

Thank you for your request.

Unfortunately, we do not hold the data you have requested.

However, you may be interested in survey estimates of unrelated adults living together from the Labour Force Survey for the period April-June 2021. We have published these for UK, England and London back to 2015 in these spreadsheets. The first link contains the number of households and the second link contains the number of people living in the households.

Households by type of household and family, regions of England and GB constituent countries - Office for National Statistics

People in households by type of household and family, regions of England and GB constituent countries - Office for National Statistics

Alternatively, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) produce a range of housing statistics including administrative data on the estimated number of dwellings in Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). There are estimates available on the number of HMOs within each local authority, and estimates on the number of mandatory licensable HMOs. This data is available for 2020-21 for England in DLUHC's Local authority housing statistics return -- Sheet F: Condition of dwelling stock, Columns P,Q and R.

DLUHC's English Housing Survey has further data about the nature and number of tenancies for England.

DLUHC can be contacted at mhclgcorrespondence@levellingup.gov.uk.