Relative housing mobility
Published:
29 October 2026
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Data on relative housing mobility – the strength of the link in home ownership between people in the UK and their parents.
Summary main findings
Longitudinal data (1971 to 2021)
According to the ONS Longitudinal Study (ONS-LS), relative housing mobility has declined since 1991. ‘Intergenerational persistence’ has increased, which means people are now more likely to end up in the same housing situation as their parents.
In 1991, there was a weak link in home ownership between children and their parents. There was little change between 1991 and 2001. In the following 20 years, the link grew much stronger and adult children in 2021 were far more likely to have the same housing status as their parents.
Other data (1991 to 2020)
According to findings from the ONS Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS), in the period from 2016 to 2020 combined:
- relative housing mobility was lower among disabled people than non-disabled people
- there were no significant differences in relative housing mobility between UK regions
By Census year
Visualisation
Relative housing mobility – owner:renter log odds ratios, by age group, sex and Census year (England and Wales, 1991 to 2021)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Year | Men | Women | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 28 to 37 | Aged 38 to 47 | Aged 28 to 37 | Aged 38 to 47 | |
| 2021 | 4.62 | 3.94 | 4.66 | 4.22 |
| 2011 | 3.46 | 2.83 | 3.93 | 3.18 |
| 2001 | 2.92 | 2.57 | 3.25 | 2.63 |
| 1991 | 2.94 | No data | 2.78 | No data |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By area
Visualisation
Odds ratios of the relationship in home ownership between people and their parents, by region (WAS, UK, 2016 to 2020 combined)
Data
| Region | Odds ratio |
|---|---|
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 3.5 |
| South East | 3.3 |
| East of England | 3.2 |
| North East | 3.1 |
| North West | 3.1 |
| West Midlands | 3.0 |
| Scotland | 2.7 |
| London | 2.7 |
| East Midlands | 2.6 |
| Wales | 2.4 |
| South West | 2.3 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By sex
Visualisation
Odds ratios of the relationship in home ownership between people and their parents, by sex (WAS, UK, 2016 to 2020 combined)
Data
| Sex | Odds ratio |
|---|---|
| Men | 2.5 |
| Women | 3.3 |
| Total | 2.8 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
By disability status
Visualisation
Odds ratios of the relationship in home ownership between people and their parents, by disability status (WAS, UK, 2016 to 2020 combined)
Data
| Disabled | Odds ratio |
|---|---|
| Yes | 3.0 |
| No | 2.4 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source (s)
- Office for National Statistics (ONS), Longitudinal Study
- ONS, Wealth and Assets Survey (WAS)
Time period
- Longitudinal study (1971 to 2021)
- WAS (2016 to 2020)
Geographic area
- Longitudinal study: England and Wales
- WAS: United Kingdom
What the data measures
Longitudinal data (1971 to 2021)
The data measures the chances of people who grew up in families who owned or rented their homes being homeowners themselves as adults.
People’s housing status is classed as either:
- owner – including outright owners and those with a mortgage
- renter – including private and social housing sectors
The data does not include people living in communal housing when they were surveyed. For more information see section 3.4 of our technical annex.
Relative mobility compares the mobility chances of 2 (or more) different groups. We use ‘log odds ratios’ to compare how likely alternative outcomes are in the following 2 groups:
- people who grew up in families who owned their own homes
- people whose families rented their homes
High levels of relative housing mobility can be due to high levels of either or both:
- downward mobility from owner occupation
- upward mobility from renting
WAS data (1991 to 2020)
The data shows the link in home ownership between people in the UK and their parents.
Things you need to know
Because these measures use different mathematical scales, do not directly compare numerical values between the 2 datasets.
The error bars show 95% confidence intervals. Read more about confidence intervals
Longitudinal data (1971 to 2021)
This analysis uses log odds ratios. A value of 0 represents complete relative mobility (no link between parent and child degree attainment). Positive values indicate higher intergenerational persistence.
The Census does not directly measure people’s social backgrounds. By linking Censuses it is possible to identify people’s families in an earlier Census when they were growing up and still living at home. This linkage is done for specific birth cohorts and a sample of birth dates.
For example:
- early-career adults were aged 28 to 37 years at the time of the destination Census and have been linked with data for their parents from the Census 20 years earlier
- mid-career adults were aged 38 to 47 years and have been linked with data for their parents from the census 30 years earlier
See the technical annex for further details.
While the ONS-LS achieved high levels of linkage across censuses, people who were not living in England or Wales in the relevant earlier Census cannot be linked. Recent migrants from countries outside England and Wales are therefore excluded.
WAS data (1991 to 2020)
Values are shown as odds ratios. A value of 1 represents complete relative mobility – that is, no link in homeowner status between children and their parents. A higher odds ratio means a stronger link in home ownership between people and their parents and lower housing mobility. A lower odds ratio means a weaker link and greater relative housing mobility.
Data is weighted using the WAS individual weights.
Logistic regression modelling confirms that there was:
- a statistically significant difference between the relative housing mobility of men and women
- a statistically significant difference between the relative housing mobility of those with and without a disability
- no statistically significant difference between relative housing mobility between different regions
Type of data
- Longitudinal data: administrative data
- WAS data: survey data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2026 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 3KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Indicator code
- Indicator name
- Area type
- Area code
- Area name
- Time period
- Age
- Sex
- Category type
- Category
- Value
- Lower confidence interval
- Upper confidence interval
- Unit
Page history
Publication release date:
29 October 2026