The Office of National Statistics has digitised data from the 1961 Census Small Area Statistics to show changes in detail at a local level. You can explore how areas compared with each other using interactive maps and graphs and see what changed in the 50 years up to 2011.
Some of the results are surprising to us now. In rural areas many people did not have indoor toilets let alone an indoor bath.
“We take it for granted now that you have a flushing toilet at home but in 1961, indoor toilets were much less common. The census that year asked if people had a toilet inside or attached to the home they were living in. Nearly 7% of households in England and Wales did not.” ONS 9 Aug 2021
Census unearthed: Explore 50 years of change from 1961 https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/articles/censusunearthedexplore50yearsofchangefrom1961/2021-08-09
There have been changes in tenure patterns too. For example, most people living in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1961 rented their home from a private landlord. But by 2011 most people owned their own home, although many did so by paying a mortgage instead of rent. Council rented provision declined slightly overall, but still exceeded private landlordism in 2011.
The direct comparison between these two years masks the changing pattern of tenure inbetween. Many of those who bought their homes under right to buy legislation from the 1980s onwards, bought houses they’d previously rented from the local council. The council rented sector in Newcastle was once much larger than the figures for either 1961 or 2011 suggest.
Newcastle residential areas 