Characteristics of people in England and Wales with a second address: Census 2021

• In England and Wales, 5.3% of people (3.2 million) stayed at a second address for 30 days or more; a slightly higher percentage of people in England used a second address (5.4%) than in Wales (5.2%).
• In 2021, 447,000 people (0.7%) stayed in a second address that was a holiday home; over three-quarters of these people (77.0%) were aged 50 years and over.
• More people stayed at a holiday home in the UK (217,000) in 2021 than in 2011 (180,000).
• There was a large increase (42.4%) in the number of people with a second parent or guardian’s address, from 742,000 in 2011 to 1.1 million in 2021; most were aged under 20 years (66.3%), and over half (52.2%) lived within 10 kilometres (km) of their second address.
• Fewer people stayed at another address when working away from home in 2021 (189,000) than in 2011 (253,000), a decrease of a quarter; this could be explained by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic restrictions.
• Of the 294,000 people who reported staying at a partner’s address for more than 30 days a year, a fifth (21.4%) were aged between 20 and 26 years and most (70.2%) lived within 50km of their second address.

In 2021, 3.2 million (5.3%) usual residents in England and Wales reported that they had a second address where they spend 30 days or more a year. This number increased from 2.9 million (5.2%) in 2011. There was a higher proportion of usual residents in England who stay at a second address (5.4%) than in Wales (5.2%).

The largest second address type was another parent or guardian’s address, at 1.1 million (1.8% of all usual residents and 33.1% of people with a second address) having this second address type. The second largest second address type was a student’s home address, at 655,000 (1.1% of all usual residents and 20.6% of people with a second address).

Of all usual residents who were born in the UK, 5.0% reported that they stayed at a second address in 2021, an increase from 4.7% in 2011. In contrast, the percentage of non-UK-born residents who stayed at a second address decreased from 8.4% in 2011 to 7.0% in 2021.

With these data, it is important to consider the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For instance, students may have been more likely to be residing at their parent or guardian's address for the whole academic year with no use of a different term-time address, and fewer international students were in England and Wales. Read more in our International student population in England and Wales article.

Figure 1: Another parent or guardian’s address was the most common second address type in England and Wales

Proportion of usual residents with each second address type, England and Wales, 2021

Notes

1. Percentages are calculated from the total usual resident population for each country.

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Between 2011 and 2021, there was an increase of 4.7% in the number of people who stayed at a holiday home for more than 30 days per year (from 426,000 to 447,000).

People who stayed at holiday homes were evenly split between females and males at all age groups in both Census 2021 and 2011 Census. The peak occurs at age 64 years in 2011 and at age 73 years in 2021, likely reflecting the size of this generation and their holiday home ownership ageing over the decade.

Figure 2: In 2021, over three quarters of people who stayed at a holiday home were aged 50 years and over

Age and sex of usual residents who stayed at a holiday home second address, England and Wales, 2011 and 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.

2. Disclosure control processes have been applied to these datasets, "c" is used to denote data that has been removed to meet disclosure control requirements. 

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The number of UK-born people whose second address is in another local authority (LA) within England and Wales increased by 22.3% (from 155,000 to 189,000). That figure decreased by 2.4% for non-UK-born residents.

The number of UK-born people with a holiday home in their LA has increased by 30.3%. The largest change for non-UK-born residents is also for people with a holiday home within the same LA; the number has fallen by 45.9%.

For usual residents who stayed at a holiday home, the largest number of holiday homes outside of the UK are in Spain (including Canary Islands) in both 2021 (66,000) and in 2011 (65,000). France has the second highest number of holiday homes, with 51,000 in 2021 and 62,000 in 2011.

We plan to publish further analysis of the location of holiday homes in England and Wales later in 2023. Read our Housing analysis plans for Census 2021.

Figure 3: More people had a holiday home in the UK and fewer had a holiday home outside the UK in 2021 than 2011

UK-born and non-UK-born usual residents who stayed at a holiday home, by location of second address. England and Wales, 2011 and 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.

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The average (mean) distance between a usual address and holiday home in the UK was 145.7 kilometres (km). Half of usual residents who had a holiday home in the UK were usually resident within 112.9km of the holiday home.

Figure 4: Most people who stayed at a holiday home in the UK were between 50 kilometres and 200 kilometres from their usual address

Distance between people's usual address in England and Wales and a second address that was a holiday home in the UK, 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.
2. Distances are a straight line distance between the usual and second address.

3. Distance groupings are inclusive of the lowest distance (for example a distance of 10km would be included in the 10 to 50km group).

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There has been a large increase (42.4%) in the number of people who stayed at another parent or guardian’s address more than 30 days a year, from 742,000 in 2011 to 1.1 million in 2021. More than half of all usual residents who stayed at another parent or guardian’s address in 2021 (52.9%) were children aged under 16 years, compared with 47.2% in 2011.

Figure 5: More people aged under 25 years stayed at a second parental address in 2021 than in 2011

Age and sex of usual residents who stayed at another parent or guardian’s address, England and Wales, 2011 and 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.

2. Disclosure control processes have been applied to these datasets, "c" is used to denote data that has been removed to meet disclosure control requirements. 

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The greatest change was for UK-born people whose second parent or guardian’s address was within the same local authority (LA) as their usual address, which increased by 54.9% from 275,000 in 2011 to 427,000 in 2021.

Figure 6: The number of UK-born people with a second parental address in the same local authority increased by more than half between 2011 and 2021

UK-born and non-UK born usual residents who stayed at another parent or guardian's address, by location of second address, England and Wales, 2011 and 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.

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The average (mean) distance between the usual address and address of another parent or guardian is 45.1 kilometres (km). Half of people with this address type lived within 8.9km of their second address.

Figure 7: Over half (52.2%) of people with another parent or guardian’s address in the UK usually lived within 10 kilometres of their second address

Distance between people's usual address in England and Wales and another parent or guardian's address in the UK, 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.
2. Distances are a straight line distance between the usual and second address.

3. Distance groupings are inclusive of the lowest distance (for example a distance of 10km would be included in the 10 to 50km group).

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More analysis on children with a second parental address will be included in our upcoming families census analysis article.

The number of usual residents who stayed at a second address while working away from home fell by 25.5% from 253,000 in 2011, to 189,000 in 2021.

More males than females had a second address when working away from home in both 2011 and 2021. The number of females with this address type fell by 14.5% from 79,000 in 2011 to 67,000 in 2021. For males, the decrease was much greater, at 30.5% from 174,000 to 121,000 over the same period. The decrease in the number of people with this second address type may be a result of the effect of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on employment and home-working.

Figure 8: Fewer males stayed at a second address whilst working away from home in 2021 than in 2011

Age and sex of usual residents who stayed at a second address whilst working away from home, England and Wales, 2011 and 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.
2. Disclosure control processes have been applied to these datasets, "c" is used to denote data that has been removed to meet disclosure control requirements. 

3. Children with this second address type may reflect they accompany a parent to a second address for a parent's work.

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The number of UK-born usual residents who had another address while working away from home decreased by 33.8%, from 202,000 in 2011 to 134,000 in 2021. For people who were not born in the UK, the number increased slightly by 7.5%, from 51,000 to 55,000 during the same period.

Figure 9: Fewer UK-born people stayed at a second address whilst working away from home in 2021 than in 2011

UK-born and non-UK born usual residents who stayed at a second address whilst working away from home, by location of second address, England and Wales, 2011 and 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.

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The average (mean) distance between a usual address and an address when working away from home in the UK was 137.1 kilometres (km). Half of these addresses were within 111.1km of a usual residence.

Of all usual residents whose working away from home address is less than 25km from their usual residence, 23.9% were care workers and home carers (based on their Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code, defined in our SOC 2020 methodology).

Figure 10: Over half (53.9%) of people who stayed at a second address in the UK whilst working away from home lived 100 kilometres or more away from their second address

Distance between people's usual address in England and Wales and second address whilst working away in the UK, 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.
2. Distances are a straight line distance between the usual and second address.

3. Distance groupings are inclusive of the lowest distance (for example a distance of 10km would be included in the 10 to 50km group).

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There was very little change in the age and sex distribution of people reporting their second address as a student’s home address. The exception was males aged 20 to 24 years, where the number fell by 14.6%, from 199,000 in 2011 to 170,000 in 2021.

Figure 11: Most people who stayed at a student's home address more than 30 days a year were aged between 18 and 23 years

Age and sex of usual residents who stayed at a student’s home address, England and Wales, 2011 and 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.

2. Disclosure control processes have been applied to these datasets, "c" is used to denote data that has been removed to meet disclosure control requirements.  

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There was a large increase of 28.4% in UK-born students with a home address within the same local authority (LA), from 13,000 to 16,000. For people who were born in the UK and had a student’s home address outside the UK, the number more than halved since 2011 from 10,000 to 4,000, a decrease of 58.6%.

The number of non-UK-born residents with a student’s home address outside of the UK fell by 41.0%, from 106,000 to 62,000. The number of international students present in England and Wales was notably lower in March 2021 than in 2011. It is possible that many students were studying remotely from outside the UK because of travel restrictions during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Read more in our International student population in England and Wales article.

Figure 12: Fewer non-UK-born students had a home address outside the UK in 2021 than in 2011

UK-born and non-UK-born usual residents who stayed at a student’s home address, by location of second address, England and Wales, 2011 and 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.

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The average (mean) distance between a student’s home address and their usual address is 132.1 kilometres (km).

Figure 13: Over half (54.8%) of student's home addresses in the UK were more than 100 kilometres from their usual address

Distance between people's usual address in England and Wales and student's home address in the UK, 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.
2. Distances are a straight line distance between the usual and second address.

3. Distance groupings are inclusive of the lowest distance (for example a distance of 10km would be included in the 10 to 50km group).

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In 2021, ”partner’s address” was included as a separate category in the second address-type question for the first time. Approximately 294,000 people reported staying at their partner’s address. The largest proportions of people who had a partner’s address as their second address were those aged between 20 and 26 years (21.4%).

Figure 14: One-fifth (21.4%) of people who stayed at a partner’s address were aged between 20 and 26 years

Age and sex of usual residents who stayed at a partner’s address, England and Wales, 2011 and 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.
2. Disclosure control processes have been applied to these datasets, "c" is used to denote data that has been removed to meet disclosure control requirements. 

3. Children who stay at a partner's address are expected to be staying with a parent's partner.

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Of people who were born in the UK and stayed at a partner’s address, 60.0% had a partner’s address in another local authority (LA) within England and Wales (133,000). Of people who were not born in the UK and stayed at a partner’s address, 56.9% had a partner’s address outside the UK (41,000).

The largest proportions of usual residents who stayed at a partner’s address outside the UK stayed at an address in Romania (6.5%) and India (6.5%).

Figure 15: A quarter of people who stayed at a second address that was their partner’s address were born outside of the UK

UK-born and non-UK-born usual residents who stayed at a partner's address, by location of second address, England and Wales, 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.

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The average (mean) distance between a usual address and a partner’s address was 56.0 kilometres (km). Half of all partner’s addresses were within 17.4km of a person’s usual address and three-quarters were within 67.3km.

Figure 16: Over 70% of people who stayed with a partner in the UK lived within 50 kilometres of their second address

Distance between people's usual address in England and Wales and partner's address in the UK, 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.
2. Distances are a straight line distance between the usual and second address.

3. Distance groupings are inclusive of the lowest distance (for example a distance of 10km would be included in the 10 to 50km group).

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In 2021, 532,000 people reported having a second address that they used for an ”other” purpose. We have included in this group people who reported that they had a second address that was an armed forces base. Armed forces personnel were advised by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) not to disclose the reason for their alternative address being an armed forces base.

It is unknown why people stay at an ”other” second address type, as there was no write-in box on the questionnaire.

The age and sex distribution for people who stayed at an ”other” address type is similar to the distribution for people who stay at another address while working away from home.

Figure 17: More males had an ”other” second address type than females at most ages under 56 years

Age and sex of usual residents who stayed at an ”other” type of second address (including armed forces bases), England and Wales, 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.
2. Disclosure control processes have been applied to these datasets, "c" is used to denote data that has been removed to meet disclosure control requirements. 
3. "Other" includes people who reported an armed forces base as a second address.

4. 2011 data for "other" has been excluded because it included partner’s address, so is not comparable with 2021.

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For people who were born in the UK, the largest proportion (56.5%) of "other” second addresses were in another local authority (LA) in England and Wales (194,000). For people born outside the UK, the largest proportion (56.6%) had an "other” second address outside of the UK (106,000).

Figure 18: Over a third of people with an ”other” type of second address were born outside of the UK

UK-born and non-UK-born usual residents who stayed at an “other” type of second address, by location of second address, England and Wales, 2011 and 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.
2. "Other" includes people who reported an armed forces base as a second address.

3. 2011 data for "other" has been excluded because it included partner’s address, so is not comparable with 2021.

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A quarter of “other” second address types were within 4.8 kilometres (km) of a usual address, which is very similar to the distance for people who stay at a partner’s address or another parent or guardian’s address. The distribution of distances is also comparable with these second address types.

Figure 19: Over a third (35.0%) of “other” types of second address in the UK were within 10 kilometres of people's usual address

Distance between people's usual address in England and Wales and their “other” address (including armed forces bases) in the UK, 2021

Notes

1. To ensure that individuals cannot be identified in the data, population counts from Census 2021 have been rounded to the nearest five and counts under 10 have been suppressed.
2. "Other" includes people who reported an armed forces base as a second address.
3. Distances are a straight line distance between the usual and second address.

4. Distance groupings are inclusive of the lowest distance (for example, a distance of 10km would be included in the 10 to 50km group).

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Figure 20: Interactive map showing where people with a second address usually live

People with a second address by reason for second address as a proportion of usual residents in local authorities in England and Wales, 2021

Notes

1. In order to protect against disclosure of personal information, records have been swapped between different geographic areas and counts perturbed by small amounts. Small counts at the lowest geographies will be most affected.

2. "Other" includes people who reported an armed forces base as a second address.

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Kensington and Chelsea had the highest proportion of usual residents (5.7%) who spent 30 days or more at a holiday home. Of the ten local authorities (LA) with the highest proportions of people with a holiday home, eight were in London and two were in Surrey (Elmbridge 1.9% and Waverley 1.6%).

Vale of Glamorgan (0.8%) and Monmouthshire (0.8%) were among the LAs with the highest proportions of people usually resident in Wales who stayed at a holiday home.

The LAs with the highest proportions of people who stayed at another address while working away from home were also mostly in London. Kensington and Chelsea had the highest proportion, at 1.4%, followed by City of London, with 1.3%. The LAs with the highest proportions outside of London were Isles of Scilly (0.9%), Cotswold (0.7%), South Hams (0.7%), Richmondshire (0.7%), and Cambridge (0.6%).

Areas with large student populations had the highest proportions of people who stayed at a student’s home address. The LAs in England with the highest proportions were Oxford, with 12.4% of all usual residents having a student’s home address, and Cambridge, with 11.5%. In Wales, Ceredigion and Cardiff have the highest proportions, both with 5.1% of usual residents.

Second address

An address (in or out of the UK) a person stays at for more than 30 days per year that is not their place of usual residence.

Second addresses typically include:

• armed forces bases
• addresses used by people working away from home
• a student’s home address
• the address of another parent or guardian
• a partner’s address
• a holiday home

If a person with a second address was staying there on census night, they were classed as a visitor to the second address but counted as a usual resident at their home address.

Usual resident

A usual resident is anyone who, on Census Day 21 March 2021, was in the UK and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more, or had a permanent UK address and was outside the UK and intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months.

Reference date

The census provides estimates of the characteristics of all people and households in England and Wales on Census Day, 21 March 2021. It is carried out every 10 years and gives us the most accurate estimate of all the people and households in England and Wales.

We are responsible for carrying out the census in England and Wales but will also release outputs for the UK in partnership with the Welsh Government, the National Records of Scotland (NRS), and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA). The census in Northern Ireland was also conducted on 21 March 2021, whereas Scotland's census was moved to 20 March 2022. All UK census offices are working closely together to understand how this difference in reference dates will affect the UK-wide population and housing statistics, in terms of both timing and scope.

Distance between usual and second address

Distance is calculated, in kilometres, as the distance of a straight line between the postcode of the respondent’s address of usual residence and the postcode of the respondent’s second address. The distance is calculated for people with a second address in the UK only.

Response rate

The person response rate is the number of usual residents for whom individual details were provided on a returned questionnaire, divided by the estimated usual resident population.

The person response rate for Census 2021 was 97% of the usual resident population of England and Wales, and over 88% in all local authorities. Most returns (89%) were received online. The response rate exceeded our target of 94% overall and 80% in all local authorities.

We will publish further information on question-specific response rates in a separate report later this year.

Quality of Census 2021

Quality considerations, along with the strengths and limitations of Census 2021 more generally, are provided in our Quality and methodology information (QMI) for Census 2021. Read more about the specific quality considerations for demography and migration in our Demography and migration quality information for Census 2021 methodology.

Further information on our quality assurance processes is provided in our Maximising the quality of Census 2021 population estimates methodology.