CORE - What is CORE?

Purpose and Benefits of CORE

CORE (COntinuous REcording of Lettings and Sales in Social Housing in England) is a national information source funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) that records information on the characteristics of both private registered provider's and local authority's new social housing tenants and the homes they rent and buy. Policy makers and practitioners regard the system as an essential tool for monitoring housing costs, assessing affordability and developing policy.

CORE provides an invaluable source of information about new lets, sales and tenants. For example, household characteristics, economic status, ethnicity, the primary reason for housing, the source of referral and the previous tenure of the occupant. In addition, since information regarding housing costs is also recorded, broad assessments of housing affordability are also possible through CORE. Information from CORE is, therefore, used by a range of organisations to inform funding, regulation and other policy decisions relating to social housing activity and contributes to the wider housing policy debate.

Scope of Data Collection

CORE logs record a wide range of data on both the household and property each time a new letting or sale is made. The logs can now be entered manually or uploaded as files directly online. Online bulk uploading has the benefit of immediate validation thus reducing the time required for supplying quality data.

Data is supplied to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, who compile national statistics and summary data, and deposit record level data for further analysis at the UK Data Archive (UKDA).

Users wanting to access the record level data should register with the UK Data Service of the UKDA. There are 3 types of license and users need to choose which fulfils their need.

Annual Review of Requirements

CORE questionnaires (known as logs) are reviewed on an annual basis towards the end of a reporting year. This site will be updated to keep all stakeholders informed as to what is being reviewed and considered for change and when this will take place. Sufficient lead times are left for stakeholders to input the social housing sectors' requirements and how the best information required can be collected in a format for all interested parties to use.

How CORE fits with other housing data

Information from CORE is used by a range of organisations to inform funding, regulation and other policy decisions relating to social housing activity and contributes to the wider policy debate. Beyond capturing the demographic information of tenants, CORE data is used in conjunction with other housing data to provide more detailed and interpretive analyses.

Key questions within CORE include:

Specific housing needs and property adaptation requirements
Previous locations and new tenants' housing situations
Types of allocation systems used
Sources of referral
Rents and charges
Key dates such as voids and major repairs

Combining information and data from CORE with housing data from Homes England is used to analyse low demand, performance bench-marking, affordability and tenure rent comparisons.

Various research companies have linked CORE data with demographic and socio-economic data to assist private registered providers in understanding the impact and effectiveness of their services in general and for specific - sometimes targeted - population groups.

Ongoing Improvements

The CORE website has been recently re-developed and is now managed by DLUHC directly.

It is a new site and, in this continuously changing environment, there are always improvements and changes that can be made. We are constantly reviewing the site and, along with any comments received, looking to make improvements where possible. Any significant changes will be noted here and on the 'Alerts' page of the website.

If you require any further information regarding CORE that is not available, please contact the CORE Helpdesk.