According to the latest ONS data, the number of affordable homes delivered annually has barely shifted over 10 years, despite rocketing demand.
The government figures show that there were 60,000 affordable homes supplied between April 2017 and March 2018. The best available data suggests that Scotland supplied the most affordable homes per person, with roughly 16 homes per 10,000 people. However, not all of these were newly built – some were simply rehabilitated.
England has seen a larger change than other countries in the types of affordable homes being delivered – there has been a shift from social rent to other sub-market rent homes.
There has been little variance in the number of affordable homes delivered annually over the last decade, however the numbers suggest a downward trend. Across the UK there has been an average of 62,400 affordable homes delivered annually, with a high of 78,800 between April 2014 and March 2015, and a low of 43,500 between April 2015 and March 2016.
England appears to be dragging down the long-term average as the only country in the UK to show a slight decrease in affordable housing deliver, with an average of 50,800 shows a slight decrease in the long term. Meanwhile, Wales (2,400) shows no major change, while Scotland (7,100) and Northern Ireland (2,200) show increases in long term trends.
Wales delivered the fewest number of affordable homes per 10,000 in 2018, with an average of just 7.4. England did marginally better at 8.5. Northern Ireland leapt ahead with 12.3, however Scotland was the clear winner with 15.8.
As of April 2018 there were about 5 million homes in the social housing sector across the UK, representing about a sixth of all properties, and this proportion has been stable over the past 10 years. Scotland had the highest proportion of homes in the social sector in 2018 (22% of homes).
Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, said: “If you’re looking for the smoking gun behind the UK’s housing crisis, look no further than the hugely inadequate levels of affordable housing being delivered to the sector. Just 60,000 homes delivered in a year and no change in the level of social housing in a decade is pitiful, to say the least, and suggests that the Government has given up trying altogether.
“Affordability is an issue not just in the London market but nationwide, and an issue that is largely exacerbated by a failure to build more homes at all levels to keep pace with a growing population and an increase in buyer demand. If we’re going to alleviate some of the strain on the market we must build more and this, in turn, will help boost affordability.”
