Forum Topic

How Much is Hammersmith's Population Growing By?

Are there any published figures on the growth in the local population? With huge developments like Fulham Reach and Sovereign Court we know it is going up a lot but I have never seen any numbers on the number of new homes being created and the likely increase in the number of residents. Is it impossible to predict because we don't know what the occupancy levels of the new flats will be?

Ellen Kearney ● 3130d2 Comments

I recall reading evidence submitted to a parliamentary select committee that occupancy of flats for rent in London was about 82%. This was regardless of the nature of ownership i.e. the idea that foreigners were more likely to leave flats vacant was a myth.You could then make some assumptions about the average occupancy of flats that did have tenants - let's say for argument's sake it is 2 and you could guesstimate that population would grow by around 1.6 times the number of flat units bought.Calculating the number of flats built will be a problem. It would be easy enough to tot up the number of units in developments like Sovereign Court and Fulham Reach but there is probably a huge number of homes being created by the conversion of office to flats under deemed consent so no planning permission is needed. Perhaps H&F keep a record but they may have a vested interest in under reporting them so as to keep the ratio of 'affordable' housing built in the borough up.

Paul Corcoran ● 3096d

The Office of National Statistics (www.ons.gov.uk) has a huge amount of census data but the problem is actually finding what you are looking for.LBHF have done a summary of 2011 census information here:https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/sites/default/files/section_attachments/2011_census_statistics_hammersmith_and_fulham_briefing.pdfThere is probably pretty good information on the typical occupancy rates of flats available from the census data, but I wouldn't know how to find it!

Michael Robinson ● 3130d