Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to ensure the accuracy of data on (a) the size and (b) other aspects of the private rented sector.

The Department uses a range of data from a variety of sources to inform our understanding of the private rented sector (PRS). The English Housing Survey (EHS) is our main source of information on the size and household/ dwelling characteristics of the PRS.

The EHS is badged as a National Statistic, which means it’s been deemed of the highest quality by the UK Office for Statistics Regulation, and we retained our badging in a recent audit of our methodologies. National Statistics must follow the principles and detailed practices outlined in the Code of Practice for Statistics (https://code.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/the-code).

Alongside the main EHS data release, we also publish an annual Technical Report which details the steps that the EHS goes through to meet the high standards of trustworthiness, quality and value required of it. The most recently published report is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-housing-survey-2019-to-2020-technical-report.