Official Statistics

Count of Traveller Caravans, July 2023: England

Published 23 November 2023

Applies to England

All comparisons refer to year-on-year changes to reflect the overall trend rather than seasonal fluctuations. For this statistical release (July 2023), comparisons have been made against data collected in July 2022.

We have made amendments to historic data following quality assurance over recent counts. Travelling Showpeople site caravans erroneously included in previous July counts (2019, 2021 & 2022) have now been removed. In addition, the double-counting of caravans within a specific grid reference was identified for one local authority. Revised site level caravan figures for each of the four counts July 2021 through to January 2022 have been provided by that local authority to remove the double-counting. July 2023 caravan site was submitted correctly. As a result of these amendments the England figures for recent counts are now lower e.g. The total number of caravans for the July 2022 count is now approximately 500 caravans (approximately 2%) lower than previously published.

1. In this release:

•   Overall, the number of traveller caravans has increased since the last July count in 2022, in line with the long term trend observed over previous counts. The total number of traveller caravans in England on the count date in July 2023 was 25,220, an increase of 206 (1 per cent) in comparison with the 25,014 caravans reported in the July 2022 count.
•   The growth in number of caravans since the July 2022 count has been led mainly by a rise in the number of Private caravans (with permanent planning permission). This has resulted in an increase in the total authorised caravans, despite a decrease in socially rented caravans.
•   The number of caravans on authorised privately funded sites was 15,131, an increase of 385 (3 per cent) than the 14,746 recorded in the July 2022 count.
•   The number of caravans on authorised socially rented sites was 6,558, a decrease of 88 (1 per cent) since the July 2022 count.
•   Overall, the July 2023 count indicated that 86 per cent of traveller caravans in England were on authorised land and that 14 per cent were on unauthorised land.
•   There were 3,531 unauthorised caravans reported in the July 2023 count, a decrease of 91 (3 per cent) since July 2022. Of these, 2,920 were reported on unauthorised developments on land owned by travellers, an increase of 67 (2 per cent), and 611 were on unauthorised encampments on land not owned by travellers, a decrease of 158 caravans (21 per cent).

Release date: 23 November 2023  
Date of next release: June 2024 (provisional)
  Contact: 0303 444 4805 / [email protected] (Responsible Statistician: Katherine Harris)  
Media enquiries: 0303 444 1209 / [email protected]

2. Introduction

This statistical release presents official statistics on the count of traveller caravans in England. The count is carried out to provide local data on the number and seasonal movement of caravans and trends over time.

This publication is compiled from information submitted by local authorities in England. Local authorities carry out the count of caravans on traveller sites twice a year, in January and July, providing a snapshot of the number of caravans on the day of the count. Information is collected about caravans on authorised socially rented sites, authorised privately funded sites, unauthorised developments (sites on land owned by travellers for which planning permission has not been granted) and unauthorised encampments (sites on land not owned by travellers and which do not have planning permission).

The traveller caravan count covers data on the number of caravans and traveller sites in England; it does not cover the number of occupants residing in these caravans or caravan sites, or the potential drivers for any observed change.

The count takes place twice a year to reflect winter residence and summer travelling trends. All comparisons refer to year-on-year changes in order that changes between counts reflect the overall trend rather than seasonal fluctuations. For this statistical release (July 2023), comparisons have been made against July 2022.

The information in this release is based on data returned to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities by local authorities in England. Users should note that revisions may have been made to figures from previous counts in this release as a result of updated data being received. This release presents the most accurate data on the number of traveller caravans in England and the accompanying live tables should be used for historic comparisons.

Further information is given in five accompanying live tables, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/traveller-caravan-count-july-2023.

3. Count of Traveller Caravans

Local authorities carried out the July 2023 count on or around 20 July 2023. Aggregated totals by site type are presented in Table 1 below, and comparative figures from the previous count are presented in Table 2. At the time of the July 2023 count, the total number of traveller caravans in England was 25,220. Of these 6,558 (26 per cent) were on socially rented sites; 15,131 (60 per cent) were on privately funded sites; 2,920 (12 per cent) were unauthorised developments on land owned by travellers; and 611 (2 per cent) were unauthorised encampments on land not owned by travellers. This information is also illustrated in Figure 1 below and in accompanying Live Table 1.

Table 1: Number of Traveller Caravans in July 2023 by site type, England

	Number of caravans	Percentage (%) of total caravans
Caravans on Authorised sites (with planning permission)	21,689	86.0
Of this: Socially         Rented Caravans	6,558	26.0
Of this: Private         Caravans	15,131	60.0
Of which:                 Temporary                 Planning                 Permission	548	2.2
Of which:                 Permanent                 Planning                 Permission	14,583	57.8
Caravans on Unauthorised Sites (without planning permission)	3,531	14.0
Of this: Caravans         on sites on         Traveller’s own         land	2,920	11.6
Of which:                 Tolerated	1,371	5.4
Of which:                 Not                 Tolerated	1,549	6.1
Of this: Caravans         on sites not on         Traveller’s own         land	611	2.4
Of which:                 Tolerated	228	0.9
Of which:                 Not                 Tolerated	383	1.5
All caravans	25,220	100.0

Table 2: Number of Traveller Caravans in July 2022 and July 2023 by site type, England

	Number of caravans: July 2023 count	Number of caravans: July 2022 count	Difference in number of caravans between collections	Percentage difference in number of caravans between collections
Caravans on Authorised sites (with planning permission)	21,689	21,392	297	1.4
Of this: Socially         Rented Caravans	6,558	6,646	-88	-1.3
Of this: Private         Caravans	15,131	14,746	385	2.6
Of which:                 Temporary                 Planning                 Permission	548	436	112	25.7
Of which:                 Permanent                 Planning                 Permission	14,583	14,310	273	1.9
Caravans on Unauthorised Sites (without planning permission)	3,531	3,622	-91	-2.5
Of this: Caravans         on sites on         Traveller’s own         land	2,920	2,853	67	2.3
Of which:                 Tolerated	1,371	1,272	99	7.8
Of which:                 Not                 Tolerated	1,549	1,581	-32	-2.0
Of this: Caravans         on sites not on         Traveller’s own         land	611	769	-158	-20.5
Of which:                 Tolerated	228	306	-78	-25.5
Of which:                 Not                 Tolerated	383	463	-80	-17.3
All caravans	25,220	25,014	206	0.8

The total number of traveller caravans in England has risen from 20,834 in 2013 to 25,220 in July 2023, an increase of 21 per cent. The growth in number of caravans has been led mainly by a rise in the number of Private caravans (with permanent planning permission). Figure 1 illustrates that the number of caravans on authorised private sites has increased from 9,797 private caravans recorded in 2013 compared to 15,131 in July 2023.

Figure 1: Number of traveller caravans in England by site type over last 10 July counts (1)

1.  Due to National lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Traveller Caravan Count was suspended in July 2020 and January 2021

Figure 2 shows that caravans on authorised private sites accounted for the largest proportion of the total number of caravans across England in July 2023 (60 per cent). Caravans on unauthorised sites accounted for 14 per cent of the total with caravans on authorised socially rented sites accounting for 26 per cent. The underlying figures are included in accompanying Live Table 4.

Figure 2: Proportion of traveller caravans by site type groupings in July 2023 count

4. Geographic distribution

The geographic distribution of traveller caravans varies across England. Map 1 below shows the total number of caravans on authorised sites within each local authority boundary.

The data has been grouped into five categories for the purposes of mapping using the Jenks natural breaks classification method. This method splits the data into intervals based on the natural groupings observed within. The class breaks identified work to minimise the variance or difference between individual cases selected in each group whilst also maximising the variances between each group taken as a whole. Maps created using this method allow trends in the underlying data to be accurately represented, aiding interpretation and further analysis.

As indicated in the key, darker colours represent those local authorities that have reported a higher number of total caravans on authorised sites whereas lighter colours indicate local authorities that have reported lower numbers of caravans.

Map 1: Traveller caravans on authorised sites in England, July 2023

5. Historic data

The traveller caravan count has taken place twice a year since January 1979, with the exception of collections cancelled in July 2020 and January 2021 due to the covid-19 pandemic. Figure 3 below shows how the total number of traveller caravans in England has changed over this period across both summer (July) and winter (January) counts. National totals from each count of the main categories of authorised and unauthorised sites are presented in accompanying Live Table 4. The figures show an increase in the overall total from 8,065 caravans in 1979 to 25,220 in July 2023.

Figure 3: Number of Traveller caravans from 1979 to 2023, England (1)

1.  Due to National lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Traveller Caravan Count was suspended in July 2020 and January 2021

6. New Affordable Residential Pitches

As part of the July count, local authorities are required to submit data on the number of new affordable rental pitches constructed since the previous year’s count. The number of new affordable residential pitches in each local authority area in England has been collected since July 2011 (whilst the July 2020 count was cancelled, information on new affordable residential pitches was still collected from local authorities). This has been reported to allow such pitches to be included in the calculation of the New Homes Bonus for individual local authorities. Table 3 below shows that, altogether, local authorities reported that 9 such pitches on socially rented sites and 1 pitch on a privately-funded site had been created between July 2022 and July 2023.

Further details are provided in accompanying Live Table 5.

The next count of new affordable residential pitches is expected to take place as part of the July 2024 count of traveller caravans.

Table 3: Number of New Affordable Residential Pitches by site type, England (1)

Year	Number of socially rented new affordable residential pitches	Number of private new affordable residential pitches	Total number of new affordable residential pitches
2013	35	22	57
2014	49	0	49
2015	162	22	184
2016	27	26	53
2017	41	35	76
2018	44	0	44
2019	57	3	60
2020	0	15	15
2021	2	0	2
2022	0	1	1
2023	9	1	10

1.  Policy guidance notes require these pitches to be new affordable residential pitches that met the ‘affordable housing’ definition in the National Planning Policy Framework.

7. Accompanying tables and open data

Symbols used:

Imp Data has been partially or totally imputed due to non-submission or data quality issues - where data is missing, records have been carried forward from most recent submitted data (up to 3 July counts)

.. Data not submitted for at least 3 consecutive counts (values are still imputed for England total)

R Revised since last publication

a Authority abolished 31st March 2020

b Authority abolished 31st March 2021

c Authority abolished 31st March 2023

d Authority created 1st April 2020

e Authority created 1st April 2021

f Authority created 1st April 2023

8. Tables

Accompanying tables are available to download alongside this release. These include:

Table 1: Count of traveller caravans on authorised and unauthorised sites for the last six counts, nationally and by local authority area, based on local authority boundaries as at the time of the count(s);

Table 2: Location and size of traveller sites operated by local authorities and private registered providers in England;

Table 3: Number of Travelling Showpeople caravans on authorised and unauthorised sites for the last six January counts nationally and by local authority area (updated as part of the January count);

Table 4: National totals for the main categories of authorised and unauthorised sites for all counts since January 1979;

Table 5: Count of Traveller Caravans: new affordable residential pitches constructed between July 2022 and July 2023 (updated as part of the July count).

See Statistical releases and accompanying tables for data from previous caravan counts.

9. Technical Notes

Please see the accompanying Technical notes document for further details.

Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website.  

Information about statistics at DLUHC is available via the Department’s website.