To obtain the value of housing output, the number of owner-occupied rooms (see Volume) is multiplied by the average rent for a self-catering room in university accommodation. This is from the National Union of Students Accommodation Costs Survey, which collected information from 129 universities. This rent includes the provision of a furnished bedroom/study with access to a shared bathroom and kitchen, as well as heating and lighting etc. and maintenance services – cleaning, repairs and upkeep of the grounds. As contents insurance is not included in the rent, but is part of the value of output, the HHSA estimate of expenditure by owner-occupiers on contents insurance is added.

We have also valued tenant services, which includes furnishing an unfurnished property and maintaining both furnished and unfurnished rented accommodation. This has been estimated by adding together the value of the inputs of (1) intermediate consumption, (2) capital consumption and (3) the hours spent by tenants on maintenance and cleaning. This estimate of hours is based on the UK 2000 Time Use Survey, and is valued using the hourly effective return to labour of owner-occupiers.

For further details, see Chapter 2 of the HHSA Methodology (downloads).

The value of the output of housing and tenant services should be interpreted with caution, bearing in mind its sensitivity to some of the assumptions made. See Sensitivity Analysis for results using alternative accommodation prices.