Grids - the future of small area statistical geographies?

ONS Geospatial have developed a method of creating small area geographies built around record level data using nested grids. The Python package ‘gridgranulator’ allows non-disclosive outputs to be produced using a mixture of 125m x 125m, 250m x 250m, 500m x 500m or 1 kilometre grid cells. Building a geography around the data allows for as spatially detailed outputs as possible, whilst the use
of grids means the outputs better integrate with other data sources that are more commonly disseminated as raster layers, such as environmental or climate data.