CSO Housing Statistical Working Group

Terms of Reference

• Group will meet at least twice yearly – in March and no later than October.
• A mix of institutional members and experts are invited, which can rotate depending on the subjects for discussion at any given meeting.
• Group will function as a discussion forum on matters related to Housing Statistics and assist with understanding of existing or planned methodological changes. In line with Section 13 of The Statistics Act 1993, the Director General has the sole responsibility for the statistical methodology and professional statistical standards used by the CSO. 
• The first meeting in a given year will focus on planned statistical outputs for that year.
• The CSO will consider issues and recommendations raised by the group in the context of factors such as availability of resources and best practice in relation to the compilation of official statistics.
• Confidentiality of data must be respected at all times. The level of detail that can be shared with the group is limited by the CSO’s Data Protocol and Code of Practice on Statistical Confidentiality.
• The areas in scope are broadly in the housing sector, planning statistics, housing output, house prices and affordability, vacancy and housing use, commercial properties and other topics as necessary.
• Statisticians will be invited to attend the meetings that involve their area of expertise / interest.
• Agenda items for discussion can be proposed at a meeting for discussion at the next meeting or proposed in writing to the coordinator of the group.