Census 2011: household size and housing demand at a local level
The average size of households stayed static at a national level between 2001 and 2011 despite official projections previously suggesting a sharp drop.
But the national picture hides a wide divergence as seen in the map below. London had the largest increases in household size (particularly east London) and other urban areas also saw large increases (Leicester, Oxford, Nottingham, Luton and Manchester) while parts of the North East, North West and South Wales saw the biggest decreases in household size.
Although probably not the whole story (some immigrant groups may live in larger households, increases in university students sharing etc) the map gives a good idea of where affordability and a lack of housing supply may have prevented new households from forming. We will be able to investigate this further with the second release of 2011 census data beginning in November.
The map is created using my custom Microsoft Excel mapping system.
