Gypsy and Traveller caravan count: July 2024
This release details the number of caravans, pitches and sites for Gypsy and Traveller populations by local authority and their trends over time.
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Main points
On 18 July 2024, there were 1,282 Gypsy and Traveller caravans, and 169 sites reported in Wales.
Between July 2023 and July 2024, the total number of Gypsy and Traveller caravans rose by 14% (1,282 caravans in July 2024 compared to 1,128 in July 2023), and the total number of sites rose by 13% (169 authorised and unauthorised sites in July 2024, compared to 150 in July 2023). Private sites made up 78% of authorised sites across Wales.
Change of data source
The All-Wales Caravan Count online collection tool was used to source caravan count data between January 2021 and July 2023. This tool was discontinued in 2023, and from January 2024 onwards DataMapWales has been the source for collecting the Gypsy and Traveller Caravan Count data from local authorities in Wales. More information on this process is included in the quality report.
Caravans by site authorisation
At the time of the July 2024 count, the total number of Gypsy and Traveller caravans in Wales was 1,282. There were 1,095 caravans on authorised sites with planning permission, accounting for 85% of all caravans. Of these, 659 (60%) were on socially rented sites and 436 (40%) were on privately funded sites.
Figure 1: Gypsy and Traveller caravans by type of site, July 2024
Description of Figure 1: A pie chart showing the percentage of caravans that are on authorised sites (85%), unauthorised sites on Gypsy owned land (7%) and unauthorised sites on land not owned by Gypsies (8%).
Source: All Wales caravan count, DataMapWales (Welsh Government).
There were 89 caravans on unauthorised sites on land owned by Gypsies and Travellers, accounting for 7% of all caravans. A further 98 caravans (8% of all caravans) were on unauthorised sites on land not owned by Gypsies and Travellers, making a total of 187 caravans on unauthorised sites. This is a 24% increase in caravans on unauthorised sites since July 2023, when there were 151 caravans on unauthorised sites. The number of unauthorised sites increased from 39 in July 2023 to 53 in July 2024.
Figure 2: Number of Gypsy and Traveller caravans by site authorisation, January 2018 to July 2024 [Note 1] [Note 2]
Description of Figure 2: A line chart showing the number of caravans on authorised and unauthorised sites. The number of caravans on authorised sites has generally increased over time. The number of caravans on unauthorised sites has remained relatively consistent in comparison.
Source: All Wales caravan count, DataMapWales (Welsh Government).
[Note 1] Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Welsh Government’s biannual caravan census count was not conducted in Wales in July 2020.
[Note 2] From January 2024 onwards, DataMapWales data has been used to produce counts of Gypsy and Traveller caravans in Wales. As such, some caution is advised when considering trends across time. Please see quality report for more information.
Cardiff had the highest total number of caravans at 211. This is followed by Flintshire with 203 caravans, Pembrokeshire with 141 caravans and Neath Port talbot with 100 caravans. Together, these 4 local authorities contained more than half (51%) of all caravans recorded in Wales on the 18 July 2024.
Flintshire and Swansea had the highest number of caravans on unauthorised sites with 34 caravans each. This is closely followed by Newport with 31 caravans on unauthorised sites. Together, these 3 local authorities account for 53% 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 July 2024 there were 84 caravans on tolerated unauthorised sites. The largest number of these were seen in Swansea where there were 28 caravans on tolerated unauthorised sites. There were 103 caravans on unauthorised sites that were not tolerated in Wales.
Detailed local authority level tables are provided in the ODS spreadsheet found under the data tab.
Sites by authorisation and type
On 18 July 2024, there were 169 sites recorded across Wales. Of these, 116 (69%) were authorised sites and 53 (31%) were unauthorised sites.
Of the 116 authorised sites, 25 were classified as socially rented sites and 91 were classified as privately rented sites. Authorised privately rented sites were the most common site type, representing 78% of authorised sites and 54% of all sites in Wales.
Figure 3: Number of Gypsy and Traveller sites by site type and authorisation, July 2024
Description of Figure 3: A pie chart showing the percentage of sites by authorisation and type. On the 18th of July 2024, 54% were authorised privately rented sites, 15% were authorised socially rented sites, and 31% were unauthorised sites.
Source: All Wales caravan count, DataMapWales (Welsh Government).
Figure 4: Number of Gypsy and Traveller sites by authorisation, January 2011 to July 2024 [Note 1] [Note 2]
Description of Figure 4: A line chart showing the number of sites by authorisation. The number of authorised sites has shown a steady increase over time, having almost tripled since January 2011. The number of unauthorised sites has fluctuated throughout, but there was a noticeable increase in July 2024 compared to July 2023.
Source: All Wales caravan count, DataMapWales (Welsh Government).
[Note 1] Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Welsh Government’s biannual caravan census count was not conducted in Wales in July 2020.
[Note 2] From January 2024 onwards, DataMapWales data has been used to produce counts of Gypsy and Traveller caravans in Wales. As such, some caution is advised when considering trends across time. Please see quality report for more information.
Pembrokeshire contained the largest number of authorised privately rented sites at 19. This was followed by Flintshire (12 sites), Carmarthenshire (11 sites) and Bridgend (10 sites). These local authorities contained 57% of authorised privately rented sites across Wales. Pembrokeshire also contained the largest number of authorised socially rented sites at 5. This was followed by Neath Port Talbot and Powys with 3 sites each.
Denbighshire, Isle of Anglesey and Ceredigion were the only Local Authorities that contained no authorised sites.
Flintshire contained the largest number of unauthorised sites (11), which represents around a fifth of all unauthorised sites across Wales. This was followed by Swansea which contained 6 unauthorised sites.
Pitches on local authority sites
There were 466 pitches on Gypsy and Traveller sites provided by local authorities in Wales on 18 July 2024. This is an increase of 14% from July 2023, which stood at 410 pitches. Of these, 464 were residential pitches and 2 were transit pitches.
Pembrokeshire, Cardiff and Neath Port Talbot had the highest number of pitches provided by local authorities (83, 80 and 67 pitches respectively) accounting around half of the total number of pitches (49%). There were 6 local authorities that reported having no pitches on 18 July 2024. At the time of the count, 447 residential pitches were occupied (96%).
Torfaen is the only local authority to report any transit pitches at the time of the count, both of which were recorded as vacant.
Quality and methodology information
Detailed information on data quality and methodology can be found in the Gypsy and Traveller Caravan Count quality report.