A range of issues have been raised about housing in England, including the supply and affordability of homes and their quality and suitability for the future. This article provides a selection of statistics on these issues, as well as further reading and commentary on the long-term policies needed to deal with them.
- Housing stock
This section contains statistics on the number of dwellings in England and how this has changed over time. It then summarises statistics on the number of ‘new’ dwellings each year, including breakdowns by type and location.
1.1 Current stock
According to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), as of 31 March 2021 there were 24.9 million dwellings in England, an increase of 0.9% on the previous year. Of these:
9 million were owner-occupied, an increase of 135,000 since the previous year
9 million were privately rented, a rise of 64,000
1 million were social and affordable rented housing (made up of housing authorities and local authority dwellings), an increase of 18,000
The following table shows the increase in dwellings and the population (taken from Office for National Statistics (ONS) populations estimates) in 10-year intervals since 1981:
Dwellings and population since 1981 (millions)
Total dwellings (millions) Increase in dwellings (millions) Population (millions) Increase in population (millions)
1981 18 46.8
1991 19.7 1.7 47.9 1.1
2001 21.2 1.5 49.4 1.5
2011 23 1.8 53.1 3.7
2021 24.9 1.9 56.5 3.4
The following graph shows the changes in the proportions of each tenure of dwelling since 1981; that is, the percentage that were owner occupied, privately rented or social and affordable rented housing at a given time:
Dwelling by tenure % since 1981
Graph: Dwellings by tenure (%) since 1981
It shows an increase in the proportion of privately rented dwellings since the 1990s, and a fall in the proportion of social and affordable housing across the whole time period. This is because the number of owner-occupied and privately rented dwellings generally rose across the period, and the number of social and affordable dwellings generally decreased or remained stable. This is shown in the next graph:
Number of dwellings by tenure each year since 1981
Graph: Number of dwellings by tenure each year since 1981
The DLUHC statistics also reported that there were “653,000 vacant dwellings in England on 4 October 2021, a decrease of 12,600 (1.9%) from 665,600 on 5 October 2020”. This represented 2.6% of the dwelling stock. It also found there were “237,300 long-term vacant dwellings in England on 4 October 2021, a decrease of 31,000 (11.6%) from 268,400 on 5 October 2020”. This represented 1.0% of the dwelling stock.
Further information on the number of dwellings statistics, including geographical density, can be found in the full DLUHC report.
1.2 New dwellings
In its latest report on net additional dwellings (new dwellings minus lost dwellings), DLUHC reported that there were 216,490 net additional dwellings in England in 2020–21. This was 11% fewer new dwellings than in 2019–20.
The new dwellings in 2020–21 were made up of:
194,060 new-build homes
23,790 gains from change of use between non-domestic and residential
3,870 from conversions between houses and flats
530 other gains (caravans, house boats etc)
There were 5,760 demolitions.
The government committed in its 2019 manifesto to building 300,000 new homes annually by the mid-2020s:
[We will] continue our progress towards our target of 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s. This will see us build at least a million more homes, of all tenures, over the next parliament—in the areas that really need them.
This pledge was recently backed by Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove.
However, there is no consensus over the true number of homes needed. For example, estimates from Crisis and the National Housing Federation in 2018 suggested there should be 340,000 new homes every year until 2031, with 145,000 of these in the social and affordable category. Further information on the difficulty of assessing the need for new housing can be found in the House of Commons Library briefing, ‘Tackling the under-supply of housing’, 4 February 2022.
The following graph, based on DHLUC data, shows net additional dwellings each year since 2000–01:
Annual net additional dwellings since 2000–01
Graph: Annual net additional dwellings since 2000–01
The statistics also showed that the largest number of net additional dwellings in 2020–21 was in the South East, and the lowest number was in the North East. The following table shows the numbers and proportions of net additional dwellings by area:
Net additional dwellings in 2020–21 by area and percentage of total
North East North West Yorkshire and the Humber East Midlands West Midlands East of England London South East South West
Number 7,791 28,288 15,999 20,223 19,310 25,644 37,183 38,794 23,257
Percent of total 3.6% 13.1% 7.4% 9.3% 8.9% 11.8% 17.2% 17.9% 10.7%
The DLUHC report stated that there were 52,100 affordable homes delivered, which represented about 23% of the total number of new additions to the housing stock delivered in 2020–21. These affordable homes included:
34,000 under affordable renting schemes (including social rent)
18,000 on shared ownership or affordable home ownership schemes
Trends in new affordable housing since 1991–92 can be seen in the following graph:
New affordable homes each year since early 1990s
Graph: New affordable homes each year since early 1990s
The November 2021 DLUHC report on affordable housing explained the wide variations in affordable housing builds across this period as follows:
The number of affordable homes delivered has varied considerably since 2011–12. The supply of affordable housing is dependent on funding programmes, and as part of a house building cycle, delivery is normally lower in the first years of any new programme. The peak in 2014–15 is explained by the end of the 2011–15 affordable homes programme and the increase in the number of completions since 2015–16 reflects the transition to the 2016–23 affordable homes programme. Unlike during the 2011–15 programme, every year between 2015–16 and 2019–20 saw an increase in the delivery of affordable homes, while the decrease in 2020–21 may be due, in large part, to the restrictions introduced during spring 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
There also have been changes in the mix of different tenures of affordable housing. Up to 2011–12, social rent was the most common affordable housing tenure for new supply, but affordable rent has become the most common since its introduction in 2011–12. This change was driven in part by the 2011–15 affordable homes programme, as well as subsequent affordable homes programmes, which funded affordable rent as a tenure. Recent programmes also fund shared ownership, which contributed to an increase in these properties, from 4,084 in 2015–16 to 17,097 in the latest year.
