Delivering the annual canvass - England

The properties that can be canvassed via Route 3 (the defined property route) are defined in legislation as:1

• Registered residential care homes
• Houses of multiple occupation
• Student accommodation: for example, student halls of residence
• Hostels

To be canvassed by Route 3, a property must also be either a property at which persons reside who together do not form a single household2 or a property where you have attempted to deliver a document in the previous 18 months but have been unable to do so.3  

In addition, to be able to allocate a property to Route 3 you must believe you are more likely to get a response using Route 3 than via an alternative canvass route,4  and you must have been able to identify a responsible person to provide the information required for the canvass. 

Accessing other local authority records or reviewing information from the previous canvass could help you to identify other properties in your database that may meet the criteria to be canvassed via Route 3.

You will need to be satisfied that the criteria specified in the legislation is met for any other property you choose to canvass under Route 3. 

Which properties cannot be canvassed using Route 3? 

The legislation specifically provides that Route 3 cannot be used for ordinary blocks of flats,5  which should be able to be effectively canvassed via Route 1 or Route 2 as appropriate based on the results of data matching.

In addition, where information you hold shows that the property is only occupied by persons under the age of 18 you cannot use Route 3 to canvass the property: in such cases, you must use Route 2 – the unmatched property route.6  

Also, properties where all registered individuals are a category of elector that must be excluded from the national data match step, such as anonymous electors, are not eligible to be canvassed via Route 3.