In England, 16% of households live in affordable housing, which includes social rent, affordable rent, and shared ownership homes. These homes are mainly supplied by registered providers, which are predominantly non-profit housing associations, and local authorities.

Social rent homes are the most affordable housing option, offered through long-term tenancies with rent subsidised and regulated by the government. On average, social rent in England is 43% of the private rent; however, in London, it is just 28%. Access to social rent homes is based on eligibility criteria that prioritise physical, social, and economic needs, meaning that only the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups qualify for social housing.

Social rented homes are still the most common affordable housing provision overall. However, since the introduction of affordable rent and shared ownership homes in 2011, only 12% of the subsidised housing built last year was for social rent, while 54% was for affordable rent and 33% for shared ownership. 

Affordable rent homes are allocated similarly to social housing. However, their rent levels can be up to 80% of local market rents, making them unaffordable to low-income groups in areas with high rents. In some areas, local authorities have introduced rent caps that limit affordable rent to the value of housing benefits households receive from the government. Currently, on average, affordable rent in England is 63% of private rent. 

Shared ownership allows individuals to buy a share of their home, typically a minimum of 25%, and pay rent on the remaining value at a rate of 3% in the first year. Eligibility for shared ownership includes income criteria, which are often higher than median local incomes, meaning that this housing targets mid-income households.

Like many other European countries, England extensively supported post-war affordable housing supply until the 1980s through supply-side subsidies. Since then, the focus has increasingly shifted towards demand-side subsidies. This includes Housing Benefits (now Universal Credit), which help low-income households pay their rent – mainly in the private sector – but also financial incentives and indirect subsidies such as interest-free loans, savings bonuses, mortgage guarantees, market discounts, or intermediate rent, particularly for first-time buyers and key workers.

Affordable housing is mainly financed in three ways: direct subsidies, planning obligations, and cross-subsidies. Over the past twenty years, the government has implemented several rounds of Affordable Housing Programmes, supporting the construction of new affordable housing through direct subsidies to registered providers. However, only 40% of new affordable housing is now financed in this way. At 47%, more affordable housing is supplied through planning obligations, where local authorities require private developers to provide a percentage of units as affordable housing as a condition of planning permission through a Section 106 agreement. Due to decreasing public funding, traditional affordable housing providers increasingly cross-subsidise affordable housing by developing and selling private housing for a profit, significantly changing the nature of their operation.

England is still largely a country of single-family houses. In 2022-23, 82% of all new completed dwellings were houses. However, there are important sectoral and regional differences. In the private sector, 86% of homes were houses, compared to only 72% of affordable housing. In London, merely 6% of completed dwellings were houses.

The housing stock in England is old, with 72% of dwellings being constructed before 1980. However, there are some differences between tenures. Only 7% of the social-rented housing were built before 1919, compared to 31% of the privately-rented dwellings. As a result of the mentioned subsidies provided to housing associations in the past 20 years, social-rented dwellings of housing associations are newer, with 32% of the being constructed after 1991.