The estimation of future numbers of private households in England and Wales

Abstract

One of the prime needs of the physical planner is to know how many households he must plan for. Population forecasting is itself a complicated process which, in England and Wales, has only been undertaken comprehensively for local authority areas during the past decade. Household forecasting for such areas, which is even more complicated and speculative, has developed more recently still. In the article, the author seeks to prove that such forecastingin spite of the limitations of the basic data-can usefully be undertaken and, moreover, that the wide variations in the characteristics of local populations render the exercise vital, even when national household size appears likely to remain unchanged.

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Notes on contributors

A. H. Walkden

The author was formerly on the staff of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. The views expressed in this paper are, however, his personal views and do not necessarily represent those of his former Ministry. He wishes to acknowledge the assistance and encouragement of Dr. E. H. Rutland and his staff in the Statistics section of the Ministry.