This website uses cookies by default. Find out more on our Information about Cookies page.

You can update your cookie preferences in Cookie Settings

> Home > Working With Us > Research > House Condition Survey

House Condition Survey

In this section

Accredited official statistics

Accredited official statistics are a subset of official statistics that have been independently reviewed by OSR and confirmed to comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. From 7 June 2024 the AOS badge replaced the National Statistics badge. The Northern Ireland House Condition Survey was awarded National Statistics status following the 2016 survey, and therefore the preliminary report and the main report display the old badge. The meaning of the new badge is the same, and any future publications will display the new accredited official statistics badge.

Northern Ireland House Condition Survey 2023

The Northern Ireland House Condition Survey (NIHCS) took place in 2023. The quality assurance process is now underway and publication dates will be announced when available.

About the survey

This is the thirteenth House Condition Survey to be carried out in Northern Ireland. Surveys are carried out approximately every 5 years and the information collected gives a full picture of the condition and energy efficiency of housing in Northern Ireland. Addresses are chosen at random from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) Address Register (NAR). They can be from any tenure i.e. privately owned, privately rented or socially rented through the Housing Executive or a housing association.

Information for householders who have been selected to take part in the survey

If your address has been selected to take part in the NIHCS 2023 you will receive a letter and information sheet before a surveyor calls at your home. Copies of these can be viewed by clicking the links below:

When a surveyor calls at your home they will have photographic ID. The surveyor will look at the physical characteristics of your home (inside and outside) and you will be asked some questions about your household. On average this visit will take around an hour to complete.

Any information gathered through the survey will be handled in the strictest confidence as outlined in the Code of Practice for Statistics (statisticsauthority.gov.uk) and will only be used for research purposes. For more information about how we use personal data click the link below:

Participation in the survey is voluntary. We hope that you will take part as we rely on the voluntary participation of householders to get a clear picture of housing in 2023, which will help us to shape the future of housing in Northern Ireland.

If you have any questions please call the House Condition Survey helpline on 02895 982548 (Relay UK: 18001 03448 920 900) between 10am and 4pm Monday - Friday. A Video Relay Service (VRS) is also available. More information on these services can be found on our website. Alternatively you can e-mail the NIHCS team at nihcs@nihe.gov.uk.

If you have any queries please contact the NIHCS team at:

Modelled statistics

Following the postponement of the NIHCS in 2021, we consulted with users to identify requirements for key statistics which could be modelled using data from the 2016 NIHCS. The fuel poverty and energy consumption reports are available to view at the bottom of this page.

2016 Northern Ireland House Condition Survey (HCS)

The 2016 HCS  report, which was published in May 2018, presents a comprehensive overview of Northern Ireland’s dwelling stock and its occupants in 2016, including information about fuel poverty, disrepair, Decent Homes, the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP), the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS), unfitness, and household profiles.

Between 2016 and 2018 the House Condition Survey was assessed by the Office for Statistics Regulation and was found to be fully compliant with the principles of the Code of Practice for Statistics. It was awarded National Statistics status in May 2018.

National Statistics status means that official statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value, and comply with all aspects of the Code of Practice for Statistics.

We welcome your feedback on the survey and related data and reports. If you have any comments or queries please contact us on 

House Condition Survey 2016: Main Report

The preliminary findings from the 2016 Northern Ireland House Condition Survey, was first published in May 2017, providing an initial overview of findings on the dwelling stock as a whole and dwelling unfitness.

House Condition Survey 2016: Preliminary Report

You can download the reports from the surveys undertaken in 2001, 2004 (interim survey), 2006, 2009 (interim survey) and 2011 by selecting the relevant study below

Previous House Condition Survey Reports 2001 - 2014

Additional 2016-based reports: Ad hoc official statistics

Following the publication of the 2016 House Condition Survey (HCS) main report, and in response to users’ needs, the Housing Executive commissioned the Building Research Establishment (BRE) to produce a number of reports using data from the 2016 survey. The reports are modelled and developed solely by BRE and will be published as ad hoc official statistics.

The Housing Executive worked closely with BRE to ensure that the principles of the Code of Practice for Statistics were applied (where practicable) to each report. All reports were pre-announced on GOV.uk. In addition the Housing Executive carried out quality assurance on each report to ensure the commentary drew out the main messages, and that information about methods and quality was provided for users.

Cost of carbon savings in Northern Ireland’s housing stock: correction

The ‘Cost of carbon savings in Northern Ireland’s housing stock’ was published in February 2021. The main findings of the report follow the EPC improvement methodology set out in Appendix T of SAP 2012 (v9.93). It also includes some additional analysis of alternative packages of improvements. Following publication the production team identified an error in the key findings section, in relation to the additional analysis of alternative improvement packages. Specifically, the savings attributed to improving dwellings to Band C were incorrect. The issue was caused by a typing error and effects one sentence in the key findings section. It does not affect the main improvement methodology, and there is no issue with the data or the savings reported throughout the output.  The error has been corrected, and there is no impact on the overall findings of the report.

In addition, the contractor notified us that in 2 of the charts (Figures 1 and 3), the data for one of the improvement measures hadn’t been incorporated correctly. The difference was minor and all numbers in the report were correct. Visually there is little noticeable change to the charts, but for accuracy they have been corrected.

Users should now refer to the corrected version which is available to download below.

Cost of carbon savings in NI housing stock (PDF 500 kB)

Estimates of fuel poverty in Northern Ireland in 2017 and 2018: correction 

The ‘Estimates of fuel poverty in Northern Ireland in 2017 and 2018’ report was published on 9 April 2019. The fuel poverty estimates were calculated using data from the Quarterly Energy Prices (QEP), report published by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in December 2018. In April 2019 it was noted that due to an error in the derivation in the December release, BEIS had published corrected figures. Footnotes about the correction have been included in QEP Table 2.2.4 ‘Average Unit costs and fixed costs for electricity for UK regions’. You can view the tables and the footnotes on the Gov.uk website.  

The Building Research Establishment (BRE) revised the Northern Ireland fuel poverty estimates based on the correction to the QEP data. It should be noted that the correction affects the 2018 fuel poverty estimate only, the 2017 estimate remains unchanged. Although the impact of the corrected QEP figures is minimal, users should now refer to the revised report and not the original version, which has been removed from the Housing Executive’s website. 

You can download the revised report below:

Estimates of fuel poverty NI 2017-2018

Download the 2016 reports below:

The Cost of Poor Housing in Northern Ireland 2009 is available below:

The Cost of Poor Housing in Northern Ireland in 2009

The pre-release access lists for the reports are also below:

Pre-access reports

Pre-release access list

You can also view the complete list of the Housing Executive’s official statistics to which pre-release access has been granted.

This file opens in Microsoft Excel (14kb).

Pre-release access list

Further information on Publication of NIHCS statistics

Impact of 2022 fuel prices on fuel poverty in Northern Ireland – investigative analysis

Following the publication of the fuel poverty estimates for 2020 and 2021, users of the data indicated a need for analysis of the impact of 2022 fuel prices on fuel poverty.

Although it was not possible to produce a fuel poverty estimate for 2022 due to the lack of data available for this time period, we commissioned BRE to undertake investigative analysis of the impact of 2022 fuel prices on the 2021 fuel poverty estimate.

In this report, fuel poverty has been calculated using the 2021 uplifted baseline components (as detailed in the “Estimates of fuel poverty in Northern Ireland in 2020 and 2021” report), and projecting changes to fuel prices and income, through the fuel price rises in October 2022 and Government support packages provided in 2022-23; no further uplift of household incomes or energy efficiency measures has been attempted. Therefore the fuel poverty estimates should not be regarded as 2022 estimates, instead they are 2021 estimates of fuel poverty where the impact of the October 2022 fuel prices has been explored through this investigative analysis.

Please click below to view the report:

Impact of 2022 fuel prices on fuel poverty in Northern Ireland (PDF 274kB)
Next
Housing market analysis