Administrative data from the UK Office for National Statistics covering private tenants' applications for Housing Benefit. The dataset provides geographical distribution, dwelling characteristics, rents, and Local Reference Rents for England across the 2002/03 and 2003/04 financial years. It is sourced from Communities and Local Government and published via Neighbourhood Statistics.
Use Cases
- Analyze the geographical distribution of Housing Benefit applications based on the described MSOA, LAD, and GOR geographies.
- Model relationships between dwelling size, type, age, and the rents charged by landlords as described in the dataset purpose.
- Compare actual rents with Local Reference Rents (LRR) to assess housing subsidy adequacy in different regions.
- Track trends in pre-tenancy eligibility determinations by the Rent Service under the Housing Act 1988.
Strengths
- Data is provided at multiple geographic levels: Middle Layer Super Output Area (MSOA), Local Authority District (LAD), Government Office Region (GOR), and National.
- Covers two complete financial years: 2002/03 and 2003/04.
- Derived from official administrative sources (Communities and Local Government) and published by the Office for National Statistics.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Data is over 20 years old (2002-2004); its relevance for current market analysis may be limited.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
Provenance
- Source
- Communities and Local Government (CLG), published by Neighbourhood Statistics, Office for National Statistics.
- Collection Method
- Administrative data from applications for normal and pre-tenancy Housing Benefit determinations.
- Time Range
- 2002/03, 2003/04
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-07-08 13:33:27.235694; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- England