Gypsy and Traveller caravan count: July 2022
Number of Gypsy and Traveller caravan's on authorised, unauthorised and local authority sites, July 2022.
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Main points
On 21 July 2022 there were 1,166 Gypsy and Traveller caravans and 168 sites reported in Wales.
Between July 2021 and July 2022, the total number of Gypsy and Traveller caravans has increased by 6% (71 caravans) and the total number of sites (both authorised and unauthorised) has increased by 17% (25 sites).
Caravans by site authorisation
At the time of the July 2022 count, the total number of Gypsy and Traveller caravans in Wales was 1,166. There were 912 caravans on authorised sites with planning permission, accounting for 78% of all caravans. Of these, 598 (66%) were on socially rented sites and 314 (34%) were on privately funded sites. Cardiff, Flintshire, Pembrokeshire and Neath Port Talbot had the highest total numbers of caravans; combined these accounted for 49% of all caravans.
Chart 1 below shows the breakdown of caravans by authorised and unauthorised status.
There were 87 caravans on unauthorised sites on land owned by Gypsies and Travellers, accounting for 7% of all caravans. A further 167 caravans (14% of all caravans) were on unauthorised sites on land not owned by Gypsies and Travellers, making a total of 254 caravans on unauthorised sites. This is a 52% increase in caravans on unauthorised sites since July 2021, when there were 167 caravans on unauthorised sites. The number of unauthorised sites themselves increased by 60%, from 40 in July 2021 to 64 in July 2022.
Newport had the highest number of caravans on unauthorised sites (66 caravans, accounting for 26% of all caravans on unauthorised sites). Denbighshire saw the largest increase in caravans on unauthorised sites, with 30 more caravans on such sites in July 2022 than in July 2021. Denbighshire also saw the largest increase in unauthorised sites themselves, rising from 2 in July 2021 to 10 in July 2022.
In some cases, caravans are on sites which are unauthorised but the local authority has decided not to seek removal of the encampment. In July 2022 there were 126 caravans on tolerated unauthorised sites. The largest number of these were seen in Denbighshire where there were 27 caravans on tolerated unauthorised sites. There were 128 caravans on unauthorised sites that were not tolerated in Wales.
Charts 2 and 3 below show, respectively, the number of caravans and sites by site authorisation.
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.
Pitches on local authority sites
There were 409 pitches on Gypsy and Traveller sites provided by local authorities in Wales on 21 July 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 21 July 2022. At the time of the count, 97% of the residential pitches were occupied.
Chart 4 shows a breakdown over time of the number of pitches in Wales.
Quality and methodology information
Detailed information on data quality and methodology can be found in the quality report.