Residents Insurance Services

• 41% of leaseholder can't name a single other agent
• 33% of leaseholder can only name one other agent
• 56% of leaseholders described having vague or very little understanding of the managing agents role

Survey carried out by Residents Insurance Services (Sep 2005)

National Statistics

• 2/5th self-managed all blocked flats
• 63% of leaseholders asked said they had no idea how to change their agents

National Statistics

• ARMA has over 250 firms in membership that between them manage in excess of 850,000 units in more than 34,000 blocks of flats or estates, at least 60% of which are lessee-controlled properties.

(figures were correct as at 1.7.10)

JICS Marketing Consultancy

The JICS Marketing Consultancy revealed the 4 problems feared by lessee to be:

• suspicion of illegal alterations by neighbours
• big bills around the corner, works overdue and no reserve fund
• neighbours not paying
• paperwork - Companies House, Tax Office, shares, the company secretarial role, sending out demands

Survey carried out by JICS Marketing Consultancy Feb 2006

English Housing Survey Household Report 2012 - 11

Household size and tenure
The largest tenure type in 2010-11 was owner occupation, with 14.45 million households 66%), down from 14.52 million (67%) in 2009-10. This continued the slight downward trend from a peak of 14.79 million (71%) in 2005.

The number of private rented households has increased from 2.00 million (10%) in 1999 to 3.62 million (17%) in 2010-11. The number of households in the social rented sector has remained relatively stable over this period, and was 3.83 million (17% of all households) in 2010-11.

An aging home owning population
Whilst 68% of first time buyers were in the 16-34 age group, this age group accounted for just 7% of other homeowners. Over half of longer term owners (54%) were aged over 55, compared to just 5% of first time buyers. Some 26% of first time buyers lived in flats compared with 11% of other recent purchasers and 6% of other owners.

Moving households In 2010-11 there were 2 million households who were recent movers, representing an increase of 200,000 in the number of such movers from 2009-10. By far the largest group of recent movers were private renters, who represented 62% of this group. Owner occupiers were 22% of recent movers, and just 16% were social renters.

EHS Homes Report 2010

Stock profile
In 2010, there were 22.4 million dwellings in England. Some 66% of these were owner occupied and the rest were rented, split approximately evenly between the private rented sector (17%) and social rented sector (17%). There were slightly more housing association dwellings (2 million) than local authority dwellings (1.8 million).

Some 940 thousand dwellings were vacant at the time of the survey. The majority of these (83%) were in the private sector and 37% of vacant homes were flats. Converted flats made up 4% of the total housing stock, they required 9% of all Expenditure (?) Category 1 hazards relating to falls on stairs and steps owing to dwelling design.

Energy
Previous reports have used the SAP05 methodology for energy efficiency comparisons, but this report uses the updated SAP09, originally published in 2010.

The average energy efficiency rating for the whole housing stock (using SAP09) has increased from 45 in 1996 to 55 in 2010. The average SAP rating has increased in all tenures since 1996. The largest increase was in the private rented sector, where the average SAP rating increased by 13 SAP points; this sector has gone from having the lowest average rating to having an almost identical average rating to that for owner occupied homes. This is partly because of changes in the composition of the sector, with a much higher proportion of newer homes. Housing association dwellings have consistently had the highest average SAP rating, reaching 63 in 2010, eight SAP points above the stock average. However, local authority homes have gradually moved closer to parity with them in terms of energy efficiency. In part, this is attributable to the programme of stock transfers to housing associations, the transferred stock generally being less energy efficient.

A full set of EHS Household Live Tables for 2010-11 are now available.
UK Data Archive (UKDA): The EHS 2010–11 annual Household Data set The 2010 EHS Housing Homes set covering the period April 2010 to March 2011,