More households are mortgage free
Low interest rates that have allowed borrowers to pay off their home loans quickly, combined with a squeeze on the availability of new mortgages to first-time buyers, may have tipped the balance of ownership in England.
In 2013-14, owner occupiers remained the biggest sector, with 14.3 million households, or just under two-thirds of the 22.6 million total, owning outright or with a mortgage.
However, for the first time since the early 1980s, more households were living mortgage-free. While 7.4 million households were outright owners, the figures for mortgaged-owners was 6.9 million. The majority of outright owners, 4.5 million households, had a resident aged 65 and over.
The proportion of owner-occupier households rose steadily from 1980s to 2003 when it reached a peak of 71%, but since then it has fallen every year.
The decline has been greatest amongst younger people, who are increasingly likely to be found in private rented accommodation. Among people aged 16 to 34, just under half were renting from private landlords.
The English Housing Survey was launched in April 2008 and brought together two former Department for Communities and Local Government surveys: the Survey of English Housing and the English House Condition Survey. Fieldwork has run on a continuous basis since 2008 and results from the survey have been published each year since then.