National statistics

Affordable housing supply statistics in England: 2022 to 2023 - technical notes

Published 30 November 2023

Applies to England

1. National Statistics Status

National Statistics^{[footnote 1][footnote 2]} status means that our statistics meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value as set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics. It is the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ statisticians’ responsibility to maintain compliance with these standards.

The accreditation of these official statistics as National Statistics was first confirmed in December 2011 following an assessment by the UK Statistics Authority. These statistics last underwent a compliance check against the Code of Practice for Statistics in June 2018.

The Office for Statistics Regulation confirmed the continued accreditation of these as National Statistics on 9 February 2019.

2. Data collection

There are several data sources on affordable housing supply which have been used in this statistical release:

• The Investment Management System (IMS) used by Homes England (HE) ^{[footnote 3]} and, until 2017-18,  by the Greater London Authority (GLA), which contains information provided by investment partners in accordance with monitoring requirements for the payment of grants. These data are published in their Housing statistics publication.

• The Project Control System (PCS) used by Homes England and, until 2017-18, by the Greater London Authority, which contains data on a number of housing and regeneration programmes. These data are also published in Homes England’s Housing statistics publication.

• The GLAOps system used by the Greater London Authority since 2017-18. These data are included in their Affordable Housing statistics publication.

• Homes England’s figures for Private Finance Initiative (these ceased in 2017-18).

• Greater London Authority’s figures on additional units not reported in the main IMS/GLAOps returns.

• The Local Authority Housing Statistics (LAHS) return submitted to the Department by local authorities.

• Administrative data from the Department’s Affordable Homes Guarantees programme delivery partner.

• The July data from the bi-annual Traveller Caravan count (TCC) published by DLUHC, which records the number of caravans and pitches on sites across England at January and July.

3. Data quality

3.1 Things to note on this release

In June 2023, alongside the revisions to the 2021-22 data, a new live table 1013  was introduced covering additional affordable homes by provider type at England level. This was done in response to user demand.

Following the introduction of First Homes covered in 2022, first covered in the 2021-22 statistical release, a new live table 1007dC is also included on new completions of First Homes. There is no equivalent table for starts, as we know that First Homes starts are undercounted:

• Homes England cannot separately identify starts on site that are First Homes and starts data collected via LAHS are done on a voluntary basis, meaning not all local authorities may answer these questions;

• Additionally, some local authorities are providing information on Homes England funded First Homes starts via LAHS. As there is no risk of double counting, we have left these in. We estimate that fewer than 100 First Homes starts reported in LAHS in 2022-23 were funded by Homes England.

There are revisions to 2021-22 data since these were last published in June 2023:

• Most of these revisions are due to local authorities reviewing of their submitted 2021-22 LAHS data, as part of the new data submission for 2022-23 and subsequent data quality checks;

• There are also changes to correct for a processing error in the June 2023 revisions. In that data release, 1,214 starts and 2,928 completions for Affordable Rent in 2021-22 were wrongly marked as new build when they should have been marked as acquisitions. This error impacted the open data and Live Tables 1009 and 1011. The overall totals for England and by tenure were not impacted by the error.

There are also five completions in 2020-21 that were previously marked as “LA Unknown” that are now assigned to Northampton. Due to a problem in the source file provided to the department, the local authority name was not read correctly for the last update.

There are no other revisions to the historical data since the June 2023 update.

A small proportion of social rent and affordable rent units funded by Homes England since 2020-21 had as lead organisation a non-registered provider, which at later date will be handed over to either a local authority or a private registered provider. These units have been classified as “unknown” provider and with “other” funding in Live Tables 1000S, 1000C, 1011S and 1011C. This impacts 42 starts and 111 completions of social rent and 375 starts and 762 completions of affordable rent for the three year period since 2020-21.

3.2 Assessment of data quality

In 2015, the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) published a regulatory standard for the quality assurance of administrative data. To assess the quality of the data provided for this release the Department has followed that standard. The standard is supported with an Administrative Data Quality Assurance Toolkit which provides useful guidance on the practices that can be adopted to assure the quality of the data they utilise.

The Affordable Housing Supply statistical release is produced by DLUHC based on data provided by Homes England, the Greater London Authority, local authorities and other data collections held by the Department. An assessment of the level of risk based on the Quality Assurance Toolkit is below.

Table 2: DLUHC Affordable Housing Supply statistics risk assessment

Statistical Series	Administrative Source	Data Quality Concern	Public Interest	Matrix Classification
Affordable Housing Supply Statistics	Homes England, GLA and Local authorities’ individual data systems	Low	High	Medium Risk (A2)

The publication of Affordable Housing Supply can be considered as high profile, as there is significant mainstream media interest, with moderate economic and/or political sensitivity. These statistics show the additional supply to the existing stock of affordable housing.

The data quality concern is considered a low concern given that the data are checked by providers and most of the data would have been released in publications that are compliant with the Code of Practice for Statistics and subject to data quality checks prior to publication.

The data are then further quality assured in detail by the statisticians responsible for this publication, who perform further detailed validation and checks, spotting and correcting any errors. These checks involve comparisons with data provided, published or historical data.

Overall, the Affordable Housing Supply statistics have been assessed as Medium Risk (A2). This is mainly driven by the high profile nature of the figures.

Further details are also provided against each of the 4 areas outlined in the Quality Assurance of Administrative Data (QAAD) Toolkit.

Operational context and administrative data collection

The main data sources for affordable housing supply statistics are the administrative systems used by Homes England and Greater London Authority (IMS, PCS, GLAOps). These systems contain information provided by investment partners in accordance with monitoring requirements for the payment of grants. Because these data are audited and subject to the rules of the Capital Funding Guide, it is considered a reliable source.

Another main data source is the LAHS data return, where local authorities are asked to only record affordable housing that has not been reported by Homes England or the GLA. The LAHS return is also used for affordable housing that did not receive grant funding or developer contributions under planning agreements. The ‘other’ category found in some of the tables in this release reports units delivered by private registered providers or other unregistered providers without grant funding and without developer contributions.

Homes England also provides data on the Affordable Homes Guarantee programme and previously provided information on dwellings funded through the Private Financing Initiative (2017-18 was the last year for this scheme).

Further information on Permanent Affordable Traveller Pitches is taken from the Traveller Caravan count (TCC) statistical release.

Communication with data supply partners

There are regular contacts with the data suppliers for this release to ensure that there is a common understanding of what information is being supplied.

Communication with suppliers is managed through a number of channels and forums including direct contact, the Affordable Homes Programme board and the Central Local Information Partnership (CLIP) Housing sub-group, which is attended by local authority representatives.

For the TCC please see the individual release for further specific engagement with their suppliers (links provided above). LAHS no longer has a dedicated statistical bulletin, but there is direct engagement with data suppliers either directly with local authority contacts or through the Central and Local Government Information Partnership Housing subgroup (CLIP-H) s.

There is a clear Memorandum of Understanding between the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Homes England and the Greater London Authority outlining the terms of what data are provided and timescales.

Quality assurance principles, standards and checks by data suppliers

The Homes England publication Housing Statistics is a National Statistics publication and has been assessed to obtain that badge. The Mayor of London has a commitment to achieve full compliance with the Code of Practice and the Greater London Authority revises its data to ensure quality of information. Details of the operational context and quality assurance procedures involved in how these figures are collected are included in those sources.

In the LAHS return, local authorities are asked to only record affordable housing that has not been reported by Homes England or the GLA. To assist them in doing so and minimise the risk of double counting, Homes England (outside London) or the Greater London Authority (within London) sends all local authorities a list of the new affordable housing recorded in their administrative systems. However, despite best efforts, double counting may still occur if local authorities misunderstand the instructions on the form or if, due to differing definitions of completion of housing, local authorities considered that a unit had been completed in a separate financial year. Figures provided by local authorities are subject to additional quality assurance to minimise the risk of double counting.

The LAHS return contains mandatory questions on completions and voluntary questions on starts on site. Where there are mandatory questions, these are completed by all local authorities that submit a return. Some authorities may not report data for all voluntary parts of the return. Therefore, the starts on site data provided directly by local authorities may undercount the real value.

The TCC is an Official Statistics statistical release and includes a section on their quality assurance processes. Figures are produced by other statisticians in the Department and there is a clear working relationship between teams to ensure good understanding of data quality.

Producers’ quality assurance investigation and documentation

Whilst providers are expected to carry out their own checks before the data are submitted for this publication, further quality assurance is carried out once the data are received by the statisticians responsible for this publication.

The data are compiled together and compared to the raw data, published figures, historical time series and policy information that may have impacted the figures (e.g. lower numbers could mean less funding because a specific funding programme is now over). There were also discussions with the Greater London Authority to ensure on how best to classify their new affordable housing products when these were introduced. Queries are raised with producers if necessary, to seek further clarification.

The data, report and tables are quality assured independently by another statistician in the production team. Further final checks are performed to the final product. These checks use a clear checklist approach to ensure the figures are consistent across the release and live tables, with each check being systematically signed off when it has been completed.

4. Imputation

No imputation is made specifically for this release. Imputation is used in the LAHS dataset, but not for the variables used for this release.

5. Definitions

The definitions used in this publication can be found in the Housing Statistics and English Housing Survey glossary.

6. Revisions policy

This policy has been developed in accordance with the UK Statistics Authority Code of Practice for Statistics and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Revisions Policy.

It covers 2 types of revisions that the policy covers, as follows.

6.1 Non-scheduled revisions

Where a substantial error has occurred as a result of the compilation, imputation or dissemination process, the statistical release, live tables and other accompanying releases will be updated with a correction notice as soon as is practical.

6.2 Scheduled revisions

The next scheduled update for the live tables is mid-2024, alongside the scheduled update of Live Table 1012. These revisions will then be incorporated into the next Statistical Release.

Changes to the component data sources used in this release will be incorporated in the next scheduled release of data.

Provisional figures from the LAHS return for 2022-23 have been used and may be subject to revisions. Local authorities will be able to submit changes to their 2022-23 return during the scheduled revisions period early 2024. This includes information received after the cut-off date for this release.

Local authorities will be given the opportunity to provide evidence to challenge their New Homes Bonus (NHB) calculation as part of the provisional grant allocation following the release of these statistics. This process may lead to some revisions to the affordable housing statistics, which will be released as part of the scheduled updates to the tables in June/July.

Figures from Homes England or the Greater London Authority can be re-stated for historical periods. Because they are drawn from grant and project administration systems, updated information can be provided by grant recipients and developers after the data for the Official Statistics have been extracted and compiled from these systems.

Other revisions to historical data (all data older than that currently due for scheduled revision) will only be made where there is a substantial revision, such as a serious error, a change in methodology or definition.

7. Revisions in this release

There are revisions in this release.

Figures for 2021-22 have been revised since June 2023, as the underlying figures from LAHS have been revised as part of the 2022-23 LAHS data collection and subsequent quality assurance. Data from other data sources has not been revised since the data was last updated in June 2023.

There are also changes to correct for a processing error in the June 2023 revisions. In that data update, 1,214 starts and 2,928 completions for Affordable Rent in 2021-22 were wrongly marked as new build when they should have been marked as acquisitions.

There are no revisions to the total numbers in the rest of the historical series (from 1991-92 to 2020-21) for this publication. However, five completions in 2020-21 were reassigned to Northampton. Previously they had been marked as “LA unknown”.

Figures for 2022-23 are considered as provisional, as these may be subject to change as part of the NHB provisional grant allocation process and the LAHS scheduled revisions in early 2024.

8. Other information

8.1 Uses of the data

The data are used for monitoring annual amounts and changes in the supply of affordable housing nationally and to inform government policy on affordable housing. The data from 2010-11 onwards are used to calculate the enhancement for affordable housing under the New Homes Bonus, a grant for local authorities to incentivise new housing supply.

8.2 Related statistics

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is part of a cross-government working group, including the Devolved Administrations and the Office of National Statistics, working to improve the trustworthiness, quality and value of housing and planning statistics across the UK. This working group has published action plans to make the planned improvements on house building statistics clear and transparent to users.

Details of this work and how you can provide feedback are available via the Government Statistical Service website.

Affordable Housing Supply (this release)

• Source: DLUHC

• Overall affordable housing supply (new build and acquisitions)

• Usually published in November/December

• Sourced from Homes England and Greater London Authority data which is published every six months combined with and Local Authority Housing Statistics Data

• Provides the most complete estimate of affordable housing supply. Affordable housing figures are a subset of total housing supply.

Affordable starts and completions funded by Homes England

• Source: Homes England

• Information on the number of affordable homes delivered under the Homes England affordable housing programmes

• Bi-annually (June/July and November/December)

• Monitor the affordable housing programmes for which Homes England is responsible.

Affordable starts and completions funded by Greater London Authority

• Source: Greater London Authority

• Information on affordable housing programmes for which the GLA is responsible. These don’t include completions from programmes managed directly by boroughs or developed outside GLA programmes.

• Quarterly 

• Monitor the affordable housing programmes for which the GLA is responsible.

Housing supply: indicators of new supply statistics

• Source: DLUHC

• Quarterly estimates of new build starts and completions

• Sourced from building control officers at National House Building Council, Local Authorities and Approved Inspectors

• This is a ‘leading indicator’ of house building, available soon (< 2 months) after each quarter’s end

Housing supply; net additional dwellings

• Source: DLUHC

• Net supply of housing statistics, also known as ‘net additions’. The net supply statistics report the split of housing supply into new builds, conversions, changes of use and demolitions but does not include a split by tenure.

• Annual, usually published in November

• Comes from local authorities outside London (Housing Flows Reconciliation Return) and for London boroughs is provided by Greater London Authority (London Development Database)

• Provides an accurate assessment of annual change in all housing stock and is the most comprehensive estimate of supply.

Dwelling Stock estimates

• Source: DLUHC

• Estimates of the number of dwellings in England and in each local authority district. The estimates are at 31 March each year.

• Annual, usually published in May

• Overall change in stock from Net Additional Dwellings

• No data are directly collected for this release, which instead uses the the Census; Labour Force Survey; Housing statistics published by DLUHC and Data returns from the Regulator of Social Housing.

• Provides an accurate assessment of the total size of the housing stock and how it is split by tenure

Local Authority Housing Statistics

• Source: DLUHC

• Stock and condition of Local Authority owned housing, including information on changes to stock of affordable housing

• Annual data set release (November to January) No longer has a dedicated bulletin, the data is published between November and January

• Data provided directly by Local Authorities to DLUHC. Information on starts and completions of new affordable housing in each local authority and changes to stock owned by each local authority stock

Statistical Data Return

• Source: Regulator of Social Housing

• Stock and condition of Private Registered Provider owned housing

• Annual, usually published in October

• Data provided directly by Private Registered Provider to the Regulator of Social Housing Information on the stock, condition and changes to Private Registered Provider owned properties.

Traveller caravan count

• Source: DLUHC

• Information on the number of caravans and pitches on sites across England. It includes the number of permanent residential pitches provided by LAs and Registered Providers.

• Bi-annually (January and July)

• The count of traveller caravans is compiled on a particular count day. LA representatives will visit traveller caravan sites and carry out a manual count. The information is submitted by LAs in England via a series of online forms.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities combines data from Homes England and the Greater London Authority into Live Table 1012, which is updated twice a year and shows the affordable housing starts and completions delivered nationally under the affordable housing programmes of the Homes England and GLA.

9. Statistics for the other nations of the UK

9.1 Wales

The Welsh Government publishes an annual statistical release on additional affordable housing delivered across Wales. The data are based on direct returns from local authorities, National park authorities and registered social landlords. Affordable housing applies to housing where secure mechanisms are in place to ensure that it is accessible to those who cannot afford market housing, both on first and subsequent occupation as defined in Technical Advice Note (TAN) 2: Planning and Affordable Housing (2006) ^{[footnote 4]}. The figures cover all additional affordable housing units, whether through new build, purchase, acquisition, leasing or conversion of existing dwellings. They do not take account of any loss of affordable housing stock through demolitions or sales during the year.

Affordable housing includes social rented housing that is provided by local authorities and registered social landlords as well as intermediate housing where prices or rents are above those of social rent but below market housing prices or rents. Figures include additional affordable housing units provided under schemes which may provide for stair-casing to full ownership as long as there are secure arrangements in place to ensure the recycling of capital receipts to provide replacement affordable housing. The additional affordable housing figures shown within this release include those housing units leased to provide accommodation for homeless families where the lease is for more than a year. It should be noted however that these units do not fully conform to the TAN 2 definition in relation to the subsequent occupation once the lease has expired.

The additional affordable housing figures will include any units that have been specifically delivered through planning obligations (section 106 agreements) or planning conditions either as a part of or as a result of market housing developments. The number of affordable homes provided on a particular site will be determined by the local authority’s planning policy and negotiations with the developer. The agreed affordable housing contribution will be secured via a section 106 agreement which is a legally binding contract between a developer and a local planning authority that operates alongside a planning permission.

See the latest annual Affordable housing provision release.

The full data set is available on Stats Wales.

Information on related statistics for other UK countries is shown in the Additional affordable housing provision: Quality report published alongside the annual release.

9.2 Scotland

The Scottish Government publishes statistics on affordable housing supply in Scotland as part of the Housing Statistics Quarterly Updates.

Excel tables on affordable housing supply in Scotland are available separately at Housing statistics quarterly update: new housebuilding and affordable housing supply.

Figures are also published as open data.

The affordable housing supply statistics are based on information held in the Scottish Government Affordable Housing Supply Programme administration system, which records activity on all affordable housing projects which receive some form of government support through loans, grant or guarantees, but which will exclude some units which are delivered without government support, such as some contributions by private sector developers which are agreed through the planning system. Information available includes the number of units which are approved, started and completed in each quarterly period. The approvals, starts and completions are also split by the type of affordable housing provided, and whether the units are classified as new build, off-the-shelf or rehabilitation. The affordable housing supply figures exclude demolitions and any sales of existing stock, and so should be treated as ‘gross’ estimates of supply.

9.3 Northern Ireland

For the purposes of the Strategic Planning Policy Statement for Northern Ireland (SPPS), ‘affordable housing’ is defined as:

• Social rented housing; or

• Intermediate housing for sale; or

• Intermediate housing for rent

that is provided outside of the general market, for those whose needs are not met by the market. Affordable housing which is funded by government must remain affordable or alternatively there must be provision for the public subsidy to be repaid or recycled in the provision of new affordable housing.

Explanatory note

Affordable housing is available to households who otherwise could not house themselves, for example, because they would struggle to afford the cost of housing in the open market, or they need a specific type of house which is not commonly available. It is provided outside the general market i.e. it is not a home bought privately or a home rented from a private landlord. It is therefore not available to households who can meet their own housing needs without government support.

Affordable homes are delivered via specially designed products, such as those detailed below, which are operated according to specific criteria to ensure that, where government funding is provided, it is targeted based on objective need. The criteria are specific to each product. For instance, the allocation of social rented housing is governed by the Housing Selection Scheme.

Government funded affordable housing should remain affordable for future eligible households. However, where this is not possible, arrangements will be put in place for government funding to be repaid or recycled to support the provision of further affordable housing for future households

Definitions

Social Rented Housing is housing provided at an affordable rent by a Registered Housing Association; that is, one which is registered and regulated by the Department for Communities as a social housing provider. Social rented accommodation should be available to households in housing need and is offered in accordance with the Common Selection Scheme, administered by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, which prioritises households who are living in unsuitable or insecure accommodation.

Intermediate Housing for sale consists of shared ownership housing provided through a Registered Housing Association (e.g. the Co Ownership Housing Association) and helps households who can afford a small mortgage, but that are not able to afford to buy a property outright. The property is split between part ownership by the householder and part social renting from the Registered Housing Association. The proportion of property ownership and renting can vary depending on householder circumstances and preferences.

Intermediate Housing for rent: The Department for Communities has developed a new Intermediate Rent policy, which sets the framework for the development of more high quality, long-term, affordable rented housing with support services.   Work continues to deliver a funding package which can support the practical delivery of a supply of new Intermediate Rent homes.

Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and the Department for Communities publish an annual compendium on housing statistics, which includes data tables relating to changes to social stock. This includes tables on new build completions by housing associations and in the social rented sector and information on co-ownership sales (the equivalent of affordable home ownership HomeBuy schemes in Great Britain).

10. User engagement

Users are encouraged to provide feedback on how these statistics are used and how well they meet user needs. Comments on any issues relating to this statistical release are welcomed and encouraged. Responses should be addressed to the Housing Statistics inbox: housing.statistics@levellingup.gov.uk

See the Department’s engagement strategy to meet the needs of statistics users.

11. Enquiries

Media enquiries:

Office hours: 0303 444 1209

Email: NewsDesk@levellingup.gov.uk

Public or statistical enquiries:

Email: housing.statistics@levellingup.gov.uk

Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website.

Information about statistics at DLUHC is available via the Department’s website.

1. National Statistics are accredited official statistics. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. Please see the Office for Statistics Regulation website for further details. ↩

2. Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website. ↩

3.   Formerly the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). ↩

4. The private sector units leased for more than 1 year to house homeless families and included within the overall total do not fully conform to the (TAN)2 definition. ↩