Housing, Planning and Local Services
Our Housing, Planning and Local Services (HPLS) domain oversees statistics on topics including: house building; household estimates and projections; homelessness and rough sleeping; housing need and demand; land stock, use and development; and local authority planning. It also covers information on local services such as fire and rescue services.
During 2026/27, we will use our regulatory tools to support trust in housing and local services statistics that are central to public debate and policy delivery across the UK. Our work will focus on prioritising high‑value statistics that inform major policy commitments, including on housing supply, stock and conditions, affordability and local authority finance.
We will continue to use compliance reviews and targeted assessments to identify and address risks, while also acting as a system catalyst by supporting improvements in wider data sources of public value, including those held by arm’s‑length bodies. This includes promoting the voluntary application of the Code of Practice for Statistics beyond the official statistics system. We will work with producers to encourage ambitious but proportionate developments that close evidence gaps, improve UK‑wide comparability, and strengthen the communication of methods and uncertainty. We will also promote collaboration across government to bring data together and enhance insight.
Our planned regulatory work will focus on themes including: private and social sector rents; housing need, demand and supply; local authority finance and council tax; housing supply, stock, condition and energy performance.
Our future priorities are informed by the needs of users. If you would like to share your views on data and statistics relating to housing, planning or local services, we would be very happy to hear from you.
Contact our regulators for this domain via regulation@statistics.gov.uk
Planned Work
| Project | Geography | Project Type | Timescale |
|---|---|---|---|
| NI House Condition Survey statistics (NI Housing Executive) | Northern Ireland | Compliance check/rapid review | January - March 2026 |
Published Correspondence – Housing, Planning and Local Services domain
Correspondence
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Siobhan Tuohy-Smith to Stephanie Howarth: Estimates of additional housing need
31 March 2026
Siobhan Tuohy-Smith, Office for Statistics Regulation to Stephanie Howarth, Welsh Government
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Stephanie Howarth to Ed Humpherson: Affordable housing statistics in Wales
12 November 2025
Stephanie Howarth, Welsh Government to Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation
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Ed Humpherson to Stephanie Howarth: Affordable housing statistics in Wales
12 November 2025
Ed Humpherson, Office for Statistics Regulation to Stephanie Howarth, Welsh Government
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Siobhan Tuohy-Smith to Sandra Tudor: Building Safety Remediation Monthly Data Release
3 September 2025
Siobhan Tuohy-Smith, Office for Statistics Regulation to Sandra Tudor, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
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Siobhan Tuohy-Smith to Stephanie Howarth: Statistics on Council Tax in Wales
16 January 2025
Siobhan Tuohy-Smith, Office for Statistics Regulation to Stephanie Howarth, Welsh Government
Publications
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Compliance review of Estimates of additional housing need
31 March 2026
Published in: Compliance review
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Compliance review of Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release
3 September 2025
Published in: Compliance review
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Election 2024: What to look out for
7 June 2024
Published in: Guidance
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Assessment of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics: Statistics on Statutory Homelessness in England
15 December 2021
Published in: Assessment Report
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Assessment Report: Northern Ireland Planning Statistics
7 May 2020
Published in: Assessment Report
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Two-year update: Public Value of Statistics on Housing and Planning in the UK
27 February 2020
Published in: Systemic Reviews
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Statistics from the Welsh Housing Conditions Survey
24 October 2018
Published in: Assessment Report
News & Events
No items found relating to this theme.