| Tenure Distribution | Owner occupancy | Private rental | Social rental | |
| England * | 64% | 19% | 17% | |
| London * | 50% | 27% | 22% | |
| Affordability | House price to income ratio * | Household rent to income ratio * | Social rent to private rent ratio * | |
| England | 8.3 | 26% | 49% | |
| London | 12.7 | 40% | 37% | |
| Housing Stock | Avg dwelling size * | Avg household size * | % of housing built before 1980 * | |
| England | 94m² | 2.38 | 70% | |
| London | 84m² | 2.57 | 74% | |
| Housing Delivery * | Target (2024) | Total supply (2022-23) | Affordable supply (2022-23) | |
| England | ~300,000 | 212,570 | 27% |
In England, 16% of households live in affordable housing, which includes social rent, affordable rent, and shared ownership homes (DLUHC, 2023). 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 49% of the private rent; however, in London, it is 37% (DLUHC, 2024). 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 households 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 (DLUHC, 2024).
Affordable rent homes are allocated similarly to social housing. But their cost can be up to 80% of local market rents, although on average they are 63% in England (DLUHC, 2024). This makes them unaffordable to low-income groups in areas with high rents such as London, where the average rent is now £2,121. In some areas, local authorities have introduced rent caps that limit affordable rent to the value of housing benefits households receive from the government.
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 as well as a service charge. Eligibility for shared ownership includes minimum income levels, which often require higher than median local incomes and therefore targets mid-income households.
Like many other European countries, England has built many affordable homes in the post-war period until the 1980s using supply-side subsidies. Since then, the focus has 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. While the current Affordable Housing Programme (2021-2026) has a five-year budget of £11.4 billion to deliver around 157,000 new homes, including 33,500 for social rent, the government is estimated to spend £70 billion in the same period on housing support paid to private landlords due to a shortage of affordable housing (NEF, 2024).
Affordable housing is generally financed in three ways: direct subsidies, planning obligations, and cross-subsidies. Over the past 20 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 (DLUHC, 2023). 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 for granting planning permission, under Section 106 agreements. Due to decreasing public funding, traditional affordable housing providers have to 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 and homeowners. In 2022-23, 82% of all new completed dwellings were houses and 65% of homes were owned. 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 (DLUHC, 2024).
The housing stock is old, with 72% of dwellings built before 1980. However, while 31% of privately rented homes were constructed before 1919, this compares to only 7% of social-rented housing, with 32% of it built since 1991 (DLUHC, 2023). This indicates significant differences in how housing is maintained or adapted to changing needs and economics.
In England, key design aspects such as materials, structure, fire safety, ventilation, sanitation, and accessibility are controlled by national Building Regulations, which apply to all housing. However, there are also many voluntary standards and design guidelines adopted by local authorities, housebuilders, or funders. Meeting some standards can be a condition for housing subsidies. Space standards, for example, were historically linked to subsidies from the Affordable Housing Programme but have been integrated into the national planning system as a technical standard applicable to all housing and the Building Regulations since 2015.
Despite the ambition of creating more cross-sectoral, universal housing standards, space standards remain voluntary, and only 45% of local authorities in England have adopted them. This has resulted in greater regional differences in affordable dwelling sizes, housing quality, and long-term flexibility.
Current space standards and guidelines have been more consistently applied in London than in other regions. We found that 79% of affordable units comply with the current space standards, compared to an average of 31% in other regions. This is because the Greater London Authority introduced these standards already in 2011 and made them a planning requirement for all housing (Özer&Jacoby, 2023).
In other regions, where single-family houses dominate, there is however a great level of housing standardisation in terms of layout, design, and construction. This is due to affordable housing being mainly delivered by volume housebuilders who use their own standard house types.