§ Mr. Tom KingTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what estimate he has made of the proportion of households formed in each region between 1991 and 1996 which were single-person households. [43858]
§ Mr. RaynsfordThere are no suitable survey sources for the information requested. However, my Department makes annual estimates of the total number of households by applying household information derived from recent censuses and the Labour Force Survey to the annual mid-year population estimates produced by the Office for National Statistics.
Using these figures for 1991 and 1996, the net change in the number of one person households as a percentage of the net change in total households is as set out.
Government office region Net increase in the number of one person households (thousands) Net increase in the total number of households (thousands) Percentage of total net increase that is one person households North East 34 34 102 North West 71 87 82 Merseyside 15 10 149 Yorkshire and the Humber 64 84 76 East Midlands 59 95 62 West Midlands 69 90 77 Eastern 85 135 63 London 112 158 71 South East 122 194 63 South West 73 110 66 England 702 996 71 In some areas the net growth in one person households exceeds the net growth in total households. This can be explained by, for example, one person households being 155W formed when one member of a couple dies. This increases the number of one person households by one but the overall number of households remains unchanged.