Communal establishment residents from the 2021 Census

The raw data from this Census release has been processed by the Population Insight Team and is also available on Surrey-i.

A communal establishment is an establishment with full-time or part-time supervision providing residential accommodation, such as student halls of residence, boarding schools, armed forces bases, hospitals, care homes, and prisons.

When interpreting the data, it is important to keep in mind that the census was conducted during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which may have affected the number of residents in certain types of communal establishment. For example, the disruption of international travel may have led to a lower number of students in education establishments than would otherwise have been expected, because of a reduction in the number of students arriving from overseas.

At the time of the 2021 Census, 26,589 individuals were residents of communal establishments in Surrey, 668 individuals were staff or owners, 167 individuals were family members or partners of staff or an owner, and 504 individuals were staying temporarily (no usual UK address).

Of the 26,589 individuals who were residents of communal establishments, the largest proportions were aged 16 to 24 (23.0% female and 22.8% male) or were aged 85 and over and female (13.4%).

Communal establishment residents by sex and banded age groups, 2011 and 2021

Communal establishment residents by sex and age groups, 2021

Age band	Female %	Female	Male %	Male
Aged 0 to 15 years	3.9%	990	3.7%	1,040
Aged 16 to 24 years	22.8%	6,121	23.0%	6,062
Aged 25 to 34 years	5.7%	641	2.4%	1,527
Aged 35 to 49 years	3.5%	515	1.9%	940
Aged 50 to 64 years	2.9%	552	2.1%	778
Aged 65 to 74 years	1.7%	451	1.7%	456
Aged 75 to 84 years	2.6%	1,207	4.5%	693
Aged 85 years and over	3.9%	3,570	13.4%	1,046

The proportion of all communal establishment residents in Surrey districts and boroughs have been presented by age and sex in the below graphs. The specific data is also available on Surrey-i. Within the female population in communal establishments, the areas and ages with the highest proportions were women aged 16 to 24 in Runnymede (46.2%) and Guildford (36.7%), alongside women aged 85 and over in Elmbridge (35.7%) and Woking (33.5%). Within the male population, the areas and ages with the highest proportions were men aged 16 to 24 in Guildford (39.6%) and Runnymede (36.1%).

Communal establishment residents of Surrey districts and boroughs by sex and banded age groups, 2021

Of the Surrey residents living in communal establishments at the time of the 2021 Census, around half were in educational establishments (representing 13,873 persons). Just under a third of Surrey residents in communal establishments were in care homes (31.8%, representing 8,668 persons).

Type of communal establishment of Surrey residents, 2021