What Is ERIC? What the NHS Estates Data Tells Us, and What It Doesn't

What is ERIC?

ERIC, the Estates Returns Information Collection, is the mandatory annual data return that every NHS trust in England submits, including ambulance trusts. It records what it costs to run, maintain and service the NHS estate, from backlog maintenance and energy use to cleaning and catering. It is the main national source of data on the condition of NHS buildings.

ERIC has been collected since 1999/2000 and is published every October. The latest release, for 2025/26, was published on 15 October 2026 and covers 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

What data does ERIC collect?

ERIC covers the cost and condition of the estate, plus the services that keep hospitals running. Data is published at trust level and site level, and anyone can download it.

• Backlog maintenance: the cost of bringing buildings back to a defined standard, split by risk category.
• Running costs: the total cost of providing and maintaining the estate.
• Energy and utilities: energy and water use, and what they cost.
• Hotel services: cleaning, inpatient food, laundry, portering and security.
• Site profile: floor area, how space is used, and the age of buildings.
• PFI: costs and data for sites delivered through private finance.

One caveat sits over all of it: trusts report their own figures, and the Director of Estates signs off each return.

What did the 2025/26 ERIC data show?

The cost of clearing the NHS maintenance backlog reached £17.3 billion in 2025/26, about 9% more than the year before. That is roughly £2.9 billion more than the £14.4 billion it cost to run the entire estate for the year.

For 2025/26, NHS trusts in England reported:

• £17.3 billion to eradicate backlog maintenance
• £14.4 billion as the total cost of running the NHS estate
• 11.2 billion kWh of energy consumed
• £1.6 billion spent on cleaning services
• £0.8 billion spent on inpatient food

The trend is the bigger story. The backlog stood at £6.5 billion in 2018/19, £13.8 billion in 2023/24 and £15.9 billion in 2024/25. It has more than doubled in seven years.

Risk is rising too. Almost £10 billion of the 2025/26 backlog sits in buildings rated significant or high risk, according to Doctors.net.uk's coverage. The year before, the high-risk portion alone was £3.5 billion, up 28% in a single year.

Open question: confirm the exact 2025/26 high-risk figure from the ERIC trust dataset before publishing.

What does "backlog maintenance" actually mean?

Backlog maintenance is work that should already have been done. NHS England defines it as the investment needed to restore buildings to a defined condition based on assessed risk, excluding planned maintenance.

That "defined condition" is a minimum standard, not a modern one. Clearing the backlog would bring buildings up to an acceptable floor; it would not modernise them.

ERIC splits the backlog into four risk categories:

1. High risk: failure could cause serious harm or catastrophic disruption to services.
2. Significant risk: a real threat to safety or services that needs urgent attention.
3. Moderate risk: problems that can be managed in the short term but will worsen.
4. Low risk: issues with limited impact if left for now.

The split matters more than the total. A leaking roof over a storeroom and a failing electrical system in an operating theatre can carry the same price tag but very different consequences.

What can't ERIC tell you?

ERIC tells you what the estate cost last year. It can't tell you what is happening in your buildings now. That isn't a flaw in the collection; it is what an annual return is built to do.

• It looks backwards. The 2025/26 figures cover the year to March 2026 and were published in October 2026. By the time the next release lands, some of that data will be 18 months old.
• It is self-reported. Each trust compiles its own return. NHS England itself marks some fields as unreliable because definitions have changed or the fields are new.
• It is only as current as the condition survey behind it. A backlog estimate built on a survey from three years ago describes the building three years ago.
• Totals hide where the risk sits. Two trusts can report the same backlog and face very different levels of risk on the ground.
• It shows cost, not cause. ERIC records what a trust spent on energy. It doesn't show which plant ran overnight, which wards overheated or which assets keep failing.

This matters because estate data shapes funding. If high-risk issues are under-reported or poorly evidenced, they are harder for regions and national teams to see, and harder to fund.

How can trusts get better estate data between returns?

The answer is to stop treating estate data as a once-a-year exercise. When live building data sits in one place all year round, ERIC becomes a summary of what a trust already knows, not a scramble to estimate it.

Twinview acts as an operational intelligence layer across the estate. It brings together data from building management systems, sensors, asset registers, CAFM tools and building models, so estates teams can see how buildings are actually performing.

That gives trusts four things ERIC can't:

• A live view of condition. Temperature, humidity, air quality and plant performance are visible room by room, across every site.
• Evidence for prioritising risk. Teams can see which assets are failing most often and where problems affect clinical spaces, so high-risk work goes first.
• Energy data that explains itself. Teams can see when and where energy is used, not just how much, and spot plant running when spaces are empty.
• A stronger case for capital. Funding bids backed by continuous building data are easier to make and harder to dismiss.

And when the next ERIC return is due, the figures come from records, not estimates.

Frequently asked questions

Who submits ERIC? Every NHS trust in England, including ambulance trusts. The return is mandatory and signed off by each trust's Director of Estates.

When is ERIC published? Once a year, usually in October. The 2025/26 data was published on 15 October 2026.

Where can I download ERIC data? From NHS England Digital, which publishes a summary page plus trust-level, site-level and PFI datasets as free downloads.

Does ERIC cover GP surgeries? Not generally. ERIC is collected from NHS trusts, so it covers hospital, mental health, community and ambulance services rather than most primary care premises.

Does ERIC cover Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland? No, ERIC covers England only. NHS Wales collects similar data through its Estates and Facilities Performance Management System (EFPMS).

Is ERIC used to decide funding? ERIC is the main national picture of estate condition and risk, so it shapes how the scale of need is understood. Trusts with well-evidenced data are better placed to make the case for capital.