Accredited official statistics

CORE sub-national data dashboard user guide: 2020 to 2021

Published 28 July 2022

Applies to England

Introduction

This user guide accompanies the interactive subnational data dashboard for CORE Social Housing Lettings in England, 2020/21.

National information is available through Social housing lettings in England, 2021 statistical release.

Please contact us at CORE@levellingup.gov.uk if you need additional help beyond this guide.

Background

This dashboard was first published alongside the 2019/20 statistical release. It was designed to replace the CORE sub-national data tables which were published as Excel files alongside the statistical release up until the 2018/19 reporting year. In addition to providing access to CORE data at the sub-national level, the dashboard has been designed to:

• Allow the user to customise and tailor the dashboard to obtain statistics of interest
• Allow the user to export their customised data display as a .csv document for further analysis if required

What this dashboard is not designed to do

Completely replace ad hoc CORE analysis requests to the DLUHC team. The dashboard provides the user with a high level of freedom to customise the data display to suit their needs. However, due to the limitations of presenting data in this way, there may be instances where a bespoke CORE request is more appropriate. Requests can be made by emailing CORE@levellingup.gov.uk.

Represent CORE statistics at the national level for local authority housing providers. Unlike the 2020/21 summary tables published as part of the National Statistics release that provide data at the national level, the counts of lettings in this dashboard are not weighted to account for local authority non-response (using data from the local authority housing statistics (LAHS) data set). Therefore, they are not directly comparable with figures from the 2020/21 summary (national) tables.

How to use the dashboard

The dashboard consists of 6 different report pages:

1) Landing page & guidance

a. This is the page displayed to the user upon first opening the dashboard. It contains information about the data set and provides links to further information about CORE data and the dashboard itself.

2) Variable explorer

a. This page allows the user to explore most variables in the CORE data set. The remaining variables are presented in different report pages as they require different methods of presentation.

3) Rent explorer

a. This page allows the user to explore data related to rent, rent-related charges such as service charge, and housing benefit-related variables, such as the shortfall between rent and housing benefits or housing element of Universal Credit.

4) Income explorer

a. This page allows the user to explore income data, such income from employment and benefits (including pensions and housing related benefits).

5) Vacancies, bedrooms and units

a. This page allows the user to explore:

• The number of bedrooms for the letting
• The number of units owned by a housing provider
• The number of times a property has been offered since becoming vacant
• The number of days since the property has become vacant

6) Additional filters page

a. This page allows the user to select and apply additional filters to the current data display. For example, the ‘Start date of tenancy’ filter on the additional filters page can be used to filter the current display to include only lettings beginning in the first quarter of the reporting year.

b. The additional filters page can be accessed from and used to apply filters to any of the 4 variable explorer pages (pages numbered 2-5 above).

Dashboard navigation

Upon first opening the dashboard, the page displayed will be the ‘Landing Page & Guidance’ page. To start exploring CORE data, select the dashboard navigation button in the top right corner as indicated on the page.

This will display the dashboard navigation panel, featuring a drop-down menu. From this menu, select the button corresponding to the page you wish to view. To navigate to a different page, use the dashboard navigation panel as outlined above.

How to use the data explorers – quick guide

There are numbered prompts within the data explorers themselves to guide the user. However, for more detailed guidance, please see below.

The Variable, Rent and Income Explorers follow the same process:

1. Select a CORE variable of interest using the variable selection menu

a. For example, in the Variable Explorer, ‘Type of letting’ is selected by default. To change the variable, select another variable from the menu by clicking on it (please note only one variable can be selected at a time). This will change the visuals on the page to display data corresponding to the selected variable.

b. Variables are derived from questions from the CORE log. Some variable names are prefixed by their question number (e.g. ‘Q1a. Type of letting’) as it appears on the CORE log. Other variables which have been derived using calculation are prefixed with ‘Derived’. Variables containing by “SH” (which stands for ‘Supported Housing’) relate to data collected only for Supported Housing, similarly for variables containing “GN” only relate to General needs variables.

2. Filter the selected variable using the basic on-page filters (optional)

a. If you wish to include only a subset of the data in your selection (e.g. to include General Needs lettings only), you can use the basic on-page filters to do so.

b. To undo a filter, either unselect it from the filter menu or use the reset filters button in the top right corner of the page (please note this will reset all filters, including any filters selected on the ‘Additional Filters’ page).

3. Add additional filters from the ‘Additional Filters’ page (optional)

a. If the basic on-page filters do not include a filter of interest, you may choose from a range of additional filters from the ‘Additional Filters’ page which can be accessed by selecting the funnel icon in the top right corner of the page.

b. To view which filters from the ‘Additional filters’ page have been applied once back on the main report page, hover your mouse over a visual, and select the yellow funnel icon.

4. Interact with the visuals to further customise the data breakdown

a. Each visual on the page can be interacted with to modify the display on the page or show additional data. For example, clicking on a specific LA area on a map will filter the rest of the visuals on the page to show data for that area only.

b. Similarly, hovering over a LA area or specific bar on the bar graph will reveal additional information relating to that category, such as the sample size (Valid N).

c. To view the visual in full-screen mode, hover your mouse over the visual and select the yellow ‘expand’ icon (‘Focus mode’).

Detailed guidance on dashboard features

The CORE variable selection menu and main filter panel

This feature is used to (1) choose the variable of interest using the ‘CORE variable selection menu’ and then (2) filter that variable and its categories using the adjacent filters. For example, you may be interested in homelessness statistics for Supported Housing lettings only.

In that case, you may search “homeless” in the CORE variable selection menu search bar, select ‘Q13. Homeless’ and then select ‘Supported housing’ from the ‘Needs Type’ filter.

The CORE variable selection menu only allows one variable to be selected at a time. However, most filters allow the user to select multiple items from the menu by holding down the ‘Ctrl’ key while selecting. For example, by selecting multiple local authority areas from the ‘Local authority area’ filter, the user can create a comparison of interest of specific local authority areas in the table below.

The selected question and additional guidance panel

Upon selecting a variable from the CORE variable selection menu, the ‘selected question and additional guidance panel’ (yellow bar below the main filter panel) will display the question (from the CORE log) from which the variable is derived.

In the case of the above example, the panel would display “Immediately prior to this letting, was this household …?”.

The summary statistics card panel

This is the panel on the left-hand side of the page that consists of multiple tiles displaying a selection of CORE statistics. These statistics have been filtered according to the selection made by the user via the CORE variable selection menu, on-page filters and filters from the ‘Additional Filters’ page.

The panel includes the statistics below:

1. Total number of new lettings in 2020/21 in the selection made by the user
2. Total number of new lettings in the selection made by the user as a percentage of all new lettings in England in 2020/21
3. Median weekly rent (excluding all charges) in the selection made by the user
4. The percentage of households in the selection which include one or more children under the age of 16
5. Median age of the lead tenant (including age where imputed) for the lettings included in the selection made by the user

How these are calculated

By default, the CORE variable selected in a data explorer is ‘Q1a. Type of letting’. Without any filters applied, this tile should display the total number of new lettings in the selection, which is the unweighted total number of logs submitted.

If a variable is selected that does not apply to all lettings, the total number of new lettings in the selection should be less than the overall total. For example, the variable ‘Q28. Number of bedrooms (grouped)’ applies to General Needs lettings only, as this information is not collected for Supported Housing lettings. If this variable is selected, the total number of new lettings in the selection is reduced to equal the total number of lettings for which information about the number of bedrooms has been provided.

The statistics shown on the remaining tiles will be based on this same subset of responses. For example, the median rent displayed on the tile will be calculated based on the available rent values (assuming no missing rent values). Median income and median age will be calculated in the same way.

The map

Depending on the type of data explorer, the map will show a different summary statistic as it is distributed across the local authority (LA) areas of England (the geographical units as opposed to councils):

• In the Variable Explorer, the map will show the (unweighted) total number of new lettings in each LA area
• The Income Explorer will show the median net weekly household income (including pensions and child benefit) by LA area
• The Rent Explorer will show the median weekly rent (excluding all charges) by LA area

In each case, these are calculated based on the total number of responses for the selected variable.

The LA areas are colour coded according to the values of the corresponding variable as indicated by the map legend.

The maps can be interacted with by the user. Hovering over an LA area will display the LA area name and the summary statistic relevant to the type of explorer. The user can also zoom in and out of the map, and by selecting one or more (by holding down the ‘Ctrl’ key at the same time) LA areas, it is possible to customise/filter the data displayed in the table (this can also be achieved by making multiple selections from the ‘Local Authority Area’ filter as described in an earlier section of this guide).

The bar graph

The bar graph will display the summary statistics for the categories of the variable selected in the CORE variable menu. For example, if the variable ‘Q13. Homeless’ is selected within the Variable Explorer, the bar graph will show the count of lettings for each possible response to that question (excluding missing or refused values).

In the Income and Rent Explorers, the bar chart will show the median net weekly household income (including pensions and child benefit) and the median weekly rent (excluding all charges), respectively, by answer categories of the selected variable.

Please note that the answer category labels will often appear truncated as there is not enough room to display the entire text string. The entire label can be viewed by hovering the mouse over the category in the bar chart, or expanding the chart by clicking on the pop-out symbol in the top right corner (‘Focus mode’).

The table

The table within each explorer will display data for the variable selected via the CORE variable selection menu. This is broken down further by local authority area (in rows), and nested within each LA area, by the housing providers that have lettings within that area.

To view the housing providers within an area, select the [+] icon next to the LA area name. To view only the housing providers (i.e. not broken down by LA area), hover over the table and select the two downward arrows icon. To return to the previous view, select the upwards facing single arrow.

The breakdown of data in the table depends on the type of explorer:

Variable Explorer

In the Variable Explorer, the table will display the count of new lettings for the variable selected via the CORE variable selection menu.

Rent Explorer

Like the Variable Explorer, the Rent Explorer will display rent-related information for the variable selected using the CORE variable selection menu.

By default, the selected variable is ‘Number of bedrooms’. This is because property location and number of bedrooms are key factors in determining rent and therefore these aspects should be considered alongside any bespoke analysis carried out by the user.

Income Explorer

Like the Variable and Rent Explorers, the Income Explorer will display income-related information for the variable selected using the CORE variable selection menu.

By default, the selected variable is ‘Household composition’. This is because household composition and total number of adults are key factors related to household income and therefore these aspects should be considered alongside any bespoke analysis carried out by the user.

Vacancies, bedrooms and units

This page contains different features and uses a different format due to the nature of the data it displays.

Most of the functionalities (such as on-page filtering, adding additional filters, selecting specific LA areas/organisations, exporting data) still apply to this page; however, the CORE variable selection menu is not included.

Guidance on the variables included on this page can be obtained by hovering your mouse over the variable name within the boxes on the right side of the page.

Additional Filters page

The Additional Filters page can be accessed by clicking the ‘Add filters’ button in the top right-hand corner of each data explorer page (represented by a funnel icon with a plus sign). This button takes the user to the Additional Filters page and presents additional filters grouped into 4 categories:

1. Tenancy Details
2. Lead Tenant & Household
3. Circumstances
4. Property Details

Any selection made on the Additional Filter page will filter data on all the explorers.

Once a filter selection has been made, select the ‘Done’ button in the top left-hand corner of the page to return to the previous page.

To reset the selection made on the Additional Filters page, select the ‘Reset filters’ button in the top right-hand corner of the page.

Each filter is indexed with the CORE question number from which it originates. Filters prefixed with ‘Derived.’ are based on derived variables which are calculated by the CORE team after the CORE form has been submitted by the data provider.

Variables prefixed by “SH.” (which stands for ‘Supported Housing’) relate to data collected for Supported Housing only. This is similar for those prefixed by “GN” (meaning ‘General Needs’).

Notes on disclosure and data quality

Household characteristics and demography

Household size has been topcoded at 4+. Total number of elders, adults and dependent children have been topcoded at 3+, 4+ and 4+ respectively. Number of bedrooms has been topcoded at 4+.

Ethnic group (applies to person 1 only) Transformed into a 5-category grouped variable.

Nationality (applies to person 1 only) Transformed into a 4-category grouped variable:

1. UK national
2. A11 countries¹
3. Other EEA countries²
4. Any other country

¹ Includes Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia. Plus Bulgaria and Romania from 2008/9, and Croatia from 2014/15.

² Includes Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Ireland has been included from 2014/15.

Economic status of lead tenant

The following have been combined into ‘Other’:

• Government training/New deal
• Full time student
• Child under 16
• Other adult

Other sensitive categories

Sensitive categories have been combined for some variables to avoid disclosure in cases where all lettings may fall into a single category. Sensitive categories have been grouped with the ‘Other’ category, and the total for ‘Other’ re-calculated. This has been done for the following variables:

Armed forces

The following have been combined:

1) ‘Yes – Regular’
2) ‘Yes – Reserve’

Reason household left last settled home

The following have been combined into ‘Other’:

2) Left home country as refugee
3) Discharged from prison / long stay hospital / other institution
7) Domestic abuse
10) Racial harassment
11) Other problems with neighbours

Previous housing tenure immediately before this letting

The following have been combined into ‘Other’:

10) Hospital
13) Children’s home or foster care
21) Refuge
24) Housed by National Asylum Support Service
29) Prison / approved probation hostel support

Source of referral

The following have been combined into ‘Other’:

9) Social services
12) Police, probation, prison
13) Youth offending team
14) Community Mental Health Team
15) Health service

Reason for vacancy

The following have been combined into a new ‘Other’ category:

5) Relet – tenant died (no succession)
10) Relet – tenant evicted due to arrears
11) Relet – tenant evicted due to ASB or other reason

Supported housing client groups

These variables below are sensitive and risk aiding the re-identification of individuals. They have been combined into wider categories as shown below:

Original category	Grouped category
A - People with physical or sensory disabilities B - People with HIV or AIDS C - Degenerative and debilitating illness D - People with learning disabilities E - People with mental health problems	People with illness and/or disability
F - People with drug problems G - People with alcohol problems	People with substance abuse problems
J - Young person at risk or leaving care P - Young people leaving care Q - Young people at risk R - Teenage parents	Young parents/young people at risk
K - Vulnerable women with children L - People at risk of domestic violence	Vulnerable women and people at risk of domestic abuse
M - Older people with support needs	Older people with support needs
N - Single homeless in need of support O - Homeless families with support needs S - Rough sleepers	Homeless people and rough sleepers with support needs
H - Offenders and people at risk of offending I - Refugees (permanent)	Other
X - Missing	Missing

Tenancy length

Length of tenancy has been banded.

Suppression of means and medians

Means and median have been suppressed (not shown) where the corresponding number of data points (valid N) is less than 3. This is because summary statistics such as means and medians derived from less than 3 data points are not considered statistically robust. In tables, suppression is indicated by three full stops (“…”).

Missing, refused, and excluded data

Missing and refused data categories for all variables have been excluded from tables and visualisations.

Further information and feedback

For more detailed information on exact question definitions and the calculations of derived variables, please refer to the 2020/21 CORE Manual and the CORE 2020/21 CORE data dictionaries on the CORE website.

For questions and suggestions, please contact us at CORE@levellingup.gov.uk. This dashboard is a new product for 2020/21, replacing the previous suite of csv data tables. Therefore, we would appreciate any feedback or comments. Please also contact us if you need assistance using the dashboard.