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Main points

On 20 January 2022 there were 1,065 Gypsy and Traveller caravans and 140 sites reported in Wales.

Between January 2021 and January 2022, the total number of Gypsy and Traveller caravans stayed the same and the total number of sites (both authorised and unauthorised) has increased by 0.7% (1 site).

Caravans by site authorisation

At the time of the January 2022 count, the total number of Gypsy and Traveller caravans in Wales was 1,065. There were 919 caravans on authorised sites with planning permission, accounting for 86% of all caravans. Of these, 603 (66%) were on socially rented sites and 316 (34%) were on privately funded sites.

Chart 1 below shows the breakdown of caravans by authorised and unauthorised status.

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Chart 1 is a pie chart showing the percentage breakdown of caravans by their authorisation status. Authorised caravans make up the largest proportion, with Caravans on unauthorised sites on sites on Gypsies own land being the second largest.

There were 99 caravans on unauthorised sites on land owned by Gypsies and Travellers, accounting for 9% of all caravans. A further 47 caravans (4% of all caravans) were on unauthorised sites on land not owned by Gypsies and Travellers.

Cardiff, Flintshire, Pembrokeshire and Neath Port Talbot had the highest total numbers of caravans; combined these accounted for 52% of all caravans. Newport had the highest number of caravans on unauthorised sites (36 caravans, accounting for 25% of all caravans on unauthorised sites).

In some cases, caravans are on sites which are unauthorised but the local authority has decided not to seek removal of the encampment. In January 2022 there were 93 caravans on tolerated unauthorised sites. The largest number of these were seen in Vale of Glamorgan where there were 25 caravans on tolerated unauthorised sites. There were 53 caravans on unauthorised sites that were not tolerated.

Detailed local authority level tables are provided in the accompanying tables. Further background and quality information can be found in the quality and methodology information section. Terms which have a special meaning are explained in the glossary. 

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Chart 2 is a stacked bar chart showing the number of caravans by the authorisation status of the site they are parked on, authorised sites are the largest category and unauthorised sites the smallest.  There is no data for July 2020 and a note on the chart explains that this is due to coronavirus stopping data collection and to read the data quality report for more information.
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Chart 3 is a grouped bar chart showing the number of sites over time (2007-2022) broken down by authorised and unauthorised sites. Over time the number of authorised sites has been rising steadily, whereas numbers of unauthorised sites have remained relatively stable. There is no data for July 2020 and a note on the chart explains that this is due to coronavirus stopping data collection and to read the data quality report for more information.

Pitches on local authority sites

There were 409 pitches on Gypsy and Traveller sites provided by local authorities in Wales on 20 January 2022. Of these, 407 were residential pitches and 2 were transit pitches.

Cardiff, Pembrokeshire and Neath Port Talbot had the highest number of pitches provided by local authorities (80, 73 and 67 pitches respectively) accounting for over half of the total number of pitches (54%). There were 8 local authorities that reported having no pitches on 20 January 2022. At the time of the count, 98% of the residential pitches were occupied.

Chart 4 shows a breakdown over time of the number of pitches in Wales.

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Chart 4 is a stacked bar chart showing the trend over time (2018-2022) in the number of local authority pitches, residential occupied is by far the largest category. The others are very small amounts. There is no data for July 2020 and a note on the chart explains that this is due to coronavirus stopping data collection and to read the data quality report for more information.

Quality and methodology information

Detailed information on data quality and methodology can be found in the quality report

Contact details

Statistician: Andy O’Rourke
Telephone: 0300 025 9578
Email: stats.inclusion@gov.wales

Media: 0300 025 8099

SFR 132/2022