Census reveals Derbyshire district has one of England's highest home ownership figures

The Office of National Statistics released its analysis of the 2021 census housing data on Thursday, January 5, which showed that, at the time of asking, 47.7 per cent of Dales households owned their homes without a mortgage or shared ownership arrangement.

That figure was topped only by Ceredigion in mid-Wales, Staffordshire Moorlands, Rother in East Sussex and North Norfolk, which had the highest rate of outright ownership at 48.6 per cent. The five local authority areas with the lowest proportion of outright ownership were all in London, with the borough of Tower Hamlets at just 7.8 per cent.

25.2 per cent of Dales households were recorded as owning their property with an outstanding mortgage, loan, or shared ownership – compared with a high of 42 per cent in Workingham in Berkshire and the rest of the top five also in the London commuter belt.

At 72.9 per cent, the overall figure for households with some degree of ownership on their home was lower than the peak of 81.2 per cent for Rochford in Essex, but comfortably above the 62.3 per cent recorded for the whole of England – down from 64.1 per cent in 2011 – while the 27 per cent in local rental situations was lower than the 37.4 per cent across all households in the census.

While the data requires careful analysis it paints an interesting picture, for instance given the noted correlation between home ownership and voting preferences, or considering the impact of higher interest rates on mortgage payments.

When dividing the district by smaller statistical areas, known as middle layer super output areas (MSOA), outright ownership ranged from 52.6 per cent in Ashbourne North, Dovedale & Carsington to 34.6 per cent in Ashbourne South.

Households with a mortgage, loan, or shared ownership ranged from 30.7 per cent in Doveridge, Brailsford & Bradley, to 20.6 per cent in Matlock South, Cromford & Winster.

The figures show that 12.6 per cent of Dales residents were living in socially rented accommodation; and 14.4 per cent were in privately rented homes or living rent free.

The local concentrations of households in socially rented accommodation were highest in Ashbourne South (21.7 per cent) and Matlock South, Cromford & Winster (19.7 per cent), compared with just 4.5 per cent in Doveridge, Brailsford & Bradley.

The proportion of households in the private rented sector, or living rent free, was highest in Bakewell North, Baslow and Calver at 19.7 per cent, and lowest in Matlock North, 10.9 per cent.

Other figures break down the district’s housing stocks by various other measures, such as the accommodation type, number of bedrooms, vehicles, vehicles and whether the occupants have a second address where they spend more than 30 days a year.

Also released last week was the local authority level data for gender identity and sexual orientation, which recorded 0.19 per cent of the Dales’ adult population as having a different gender identity to their sex as registered at birth and 2.07 per cent identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual or other non-heterosexual category.

To explore the records in more detail, go to https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/maps?lad=E07000035.

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