Occupancy rating for rooms

This method returns Census 2021 estimates that classify households by occupancy rating based on the number of rooms in the household.

Occupancy rating for rooms defines whether a household's accommodation is overcrowded, ideally occupied or under-occupied. This is calculated by comparing the number of rooms the household requires to the number of available rooms.

The number of rooms the household requires uses a formula which states that:

• one-person households require three rooms comprised of two common rooms and one bedroom
• two-or-more person households require a minimum of two common rooms and a bedroom for each person inline with the Bedroom Standard

People who should have their own room according to the Bedroom Standard are:

• married or cohabiting couple
• single parent
• person aged 16 years and over
• pair of same-sex persons aged 10 to 15 years
• person aged 10 to 15 years paired with a person under 10 years of the same sex
• pair of children aged under 10 years, regardless of their sex
• person aged under 16 years who cannot share a bedroom with someone in 4, 5 or 6 above

An occupancy rating of:

• -1 or less: implies that a household's accommodation has fewer rooms than required (overcrowded)
• +1 or more: implies that a household's accommodation has more rooms than required (under-occupied)
• 0: suggests that a household's accommodation has an ideal number of rooms

The number of rooms is taken from Valuation Office Agency (VOA) administrative data for the first time in 2021. The number of rooms is recorded at the address level. This means that for households that live in a shared dwelling, the available number of rooms are counted for the whole dwelling in VOA, and not each individual household.

VOA's definition of a room does not include bathrooms, toilets, halls or landings, kitchens, conservatories or utility rooms. All other rooms, for example, living rooms, studies, bedrooms, separate dining rooms and rooms that can only be used for storage are included.

“Occupancy rating for rooms” is split into 6 categories including total.

The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.