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In 2008 the English Housing Survey physical inspection changed over from a standard paper survey form, with keyed data entry, to a system based on electronic data capture through digital pens. This paper describes how and why the change came about and the problems that had to be overcome, and evaluates the success and potential further applications following the first year in the field.

The English Housing Survey (EHS), formerly the English House Condition Survey (EHCS) is the longest running national survey of housing conditions in the world, and is considered to be the benchmark for other surveys that collect data on homes, their facilities, their state of repair, health and safety, energy efficiency and who lives in them. The first quinquennial survey was in 1967 and since 2002 it has been continuous, with annual results being published. The survey is used to develop and monitor government policies towards the housing stock, its improvement and replacement. The current sample size is 8,000 randomly selected homes of all tenures which are inspected each year.

Some 200 qualified inspectors work on the EHS on part time contracts, each surveying around 40 homes per annum. Prior to 2008 they sent their completed survey forms away for remote data entry. While this had worked well for years, there was a concern that the data took too long to key in, validate and compile into SPSS files for analysis. There was a concern over data quality, as those responsible for validating the survey forms had not visited the properties. And there were those who considered the survey to be ‘old fashioned’ because of the common use of electronic data capture systems on other surveys.

Following an evaluation of a range of alternative methodologies, and a full scale pilot in 2007, it was decided that the most appropriate alternative method to the standard paper form was a web based system based on digital pen technology. In this, the inspectors complete a survey form printed on Anoto paper using a digital pen which collects the data directly. When the surveyor gets home he/she downloads the data from the pen to a PC and it is sent via the internet to the BRE EHS web site, where it is run through a series of checks and returned for the surveyor to validate. Once validated, the data is lodged on the BRE site for compiling/analysis. While the system is complex to develop and has to be fully tested well before launch, the pens themselves are inexpensive, which was a critical factor in a survey with a large number of inspectors completing a small number of surveys each.

The system has proved to be a great success. Inspectors have adapted to the new technology well, and a key component is the built-in validation system which ensures that they take personal ownership of data quality. Now, the first the survey forms can be analysed within days of being undertaken, and the full data set can be compiled into SPSS files months earlier than previously.