National statistics

Social housing lettings in England, tenants: April 2021 to March 2022

Updated 19 February 2024

Applies to England

1. In this release:

• There were 1.21 million households on local authority waiting lists on 31 March 2022, an increase of 2% from 1.19 million in 2020/21.

• Almost half a million people (487,000) in 267,000 households received a new social letting in 2021/22 – up from the 435,000 people in 237,000 households who received a letting in 2020/21.

• Households new to the social sector comprised 65% of new lets in 2021/22, slightly down from 66% in 2020/21. These  households were living in the private sector, their own home, temporary accommodation or sleeping rough immediately prior.

• Over half of households new to the social sector (59%) with a new social letting in 2021/22 were on the waiting list in that area for less than a year.

• 17% of new social lettings in 2021/22 were to statutorily homeless households, down from 20% in 2020/21. Households living in temporary accommodation immediately prior to their new letting comprised 14% of new lets.

• 38% of lead tenants in households in a new General Needs letting were employed in 2021/22 – an increase from 36% in 2020/21. The remainder include the unemployed, retired, those unable to work due illness and those not seeking work.

• On average, households in a new General Needs let spent 35% of their income on rent in 2021/22, similar to the 35% in 2020/21.

• 43% of households with a new letting in 2021/22 included at least one person who had a physical or mental health conditions or illness lasting or expected to last for 12 months or more – the first year this data has been collected. The most common illness was mental health.

• Nearly two-thirds (64%) of households who said they required fully accessible housing received housing in 2021/22 that had been designed or adapted to wheelchair user standards.

2. Introduction

This series is about new social housing lettings in England in 2021/22 by local authorities and private registered providers. It covers new Social Rent, Affordable Rent and Intermediate Rent lets, for both General Needs and Supported Housing.

This “Tenants” report focuses on the people living in new social housing lettings. It contains details on the number of people in new lettings, where they lived previously, their route into social housing, how long tenants spent on waiting lists, and information about the tenants themselves (household demographics, vulnerability and affordability).

The separate “Tenancies” report focuses on the tenancies, rents, properties and stock ‘churn’ – how frequently social housing is relet. It is available from the same landing page.

2.1 What are social housing lettings?

Social housing lettings are when social housing properties - homes owned by social landlords - are rented by households at cheaper rents than in the private sector. Social landlords can be a local authority (often known as “council housing”) or a private registered provider (which includes housing associations). They must be registered with the Regulator of Social Housing. In most areas, social housing is allocated by the local authority. Each local authority runs a “waiting list” as there are more people applying for social housing than properties available. 17% of households in England live in social housing^{[footnote 1]}.

New social housing lettings comprise a small part of the whole social rental sector as only 6% of the 4.2 million social properties were let during 2021/22.

3. How many people moved into a new social letting?

The 267,000 households with a new social housing letting in 2021/22 equated to approximately 487,000 people – roughly 1 in 116 people in England^{[footnote 1]}. This is an increase of 52,000 (12%) from the previous year (2020/21).

This year’s increase should be considered within the wider context of a steady decline since the most recent peak in lettings in 2013/14. Since this peak the number of tenants entering new social housing lettings has decreased by  272,000 (36%). The low of last year (2020/21) was likely a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the national restrictions in place for much of the year.

The number of people with a new social housing letting is closely tied to the number of new social lettings. For more detail about the trend in new lettings and other aspects of tenancies and properties, please see the separate “Tenancies” report available from the same landing page as this report.

The number of people in new social housing lettings increased by 12% since last year but remain lower than pre- COVID-19 levels.

Figure 1: The number of people in new social housing lettings, 2007/08 - 2021/22

Needs type	Definition
Supported Housing (SH)	Housing with special design facilities or features targeted at a specific client group requiring support, for example housing designed for older people.
General Needs (GN)	The most common type of social stock. Housing that is not designated for specific client groups requiring support, or stock that does not have the special design features that are specific to Supported Housing.

Rent types	Definition
Social Rent (SR)	The most common type of rent. It is set in accordance with a national formula that takes account of relative local earnings, the property’s relative value and the number of bedrooms it has (For further details, please see Chapter 2 of the Government’s policy statement on rents for social housing)[footnote 2]
Affordable Rent (AR)	Where the rent to be paid by tenants can be no more than 80% of the market value for the property.
Intermediate Rent (IR)	Often part of a specific named scheme. Rent must not exceed 80% of the current market rate, the reduced rent is an opportunity for the tenant to save towards a house purchasing deposit. There may also be a future opportunity to purchase all or a share of the property currently being rented.

The majority (65%) of tenants with new social lettings in 2021/22 moved into General Needs lettings on a Social Rent basis. The remainder are mainly shared between Social Rent Supported Housing (16%) and, since 2011/12 when Affordable Rent was introduced, Affordable Rent General Needs properties (17%).

Since the introduction of Affordable Rent in 2011/12 its share of new lettings has gradually increased, but remains less than a fifth of the total.

Figure 2: Percentage of new social lettings by rent and needs type, 2007/08 - 2021/22

4. How did tenants come to be in a new letting?

4.1 Were most new lettings to people from outside of social housing or to existing tenants?

New social lettings are made to households entering the social rented sector from elsewhere, plus households relocating within the sector or renewing their fixed term tenancy.

Around a third (35%) of households starting a new social tenancy in 2021/22 were existing social tenants renewing or transferring within the sector – the remaining 65% entered from outside the sector.

The most common previous tenures before this new social letting varied by needs type, with households coming into Supported Housing coming from a greater variety of routes. For General Needs lettings the most common previous tenure was a General Needs social tenancy (31% of new lettings in 2021/22) whereas for Supported Housing it was living with family / friends (19% of new lettings in 2021/22).

4.2 Why did tenants leave their last settled home?

The top 3 self-reported reasons for why households left their last settled home prior to this tenancy were mostly unchanged from the previous year. These were:

Table 1: Top 3 reasons why the lead tenant in new social housing lettings left their last settled home by needs type, 2021/22

Rank	General Needs	Supported Housing
1	To move to independent accommodation (16%)	To move to accommodation with support (25%)
2	Property unsuitable because of overcrowding (16%)	Property unsuitable because of ill health/disability (14%)
3	Property unsuitable because of ill health/disability (11%)	Asked to leave by family or friends (13%)

Approximately 7% of households left their last settled home due to domestic abuse – 16,000 households. This is the same percentage as the previous year.

The percentage of households leaving their last settled home due to domestic abuse increased steadily from 4.6% in 2013/14, peaking in 2020/21 at 7.0%.

Figure 3: Percentage of households leaving their last settled home due to domestic abuse, 2007/08 - 2021/22

Refugees comprised 0.9% of new social housing lettings in 2021/22  at 2,200 households – this is a slight decrease from 1.2% or 2,500 households in 2020/21.

Eviction on a ‘no fault’ basis was the primary self-reported reason for leaving their last settled home for 7% of households in a new social letting,  a slight increase from 6% in 2020/21. This is likely to reflect the lifting of  measures introduced to support both tenants and homeowners during the COVID-19 pandemic, including mortgage payment holidays, a stay on possession proceedings and an extension of notice periods. The stay on evictions ended on 31 May 2021.

Inability to afford renewal fees, rent increases or mortgage was given as the primary reason for leaving by 2% of households, with repossession given by  0.3% of households.

4.3 Homelessness

How many new lettings went to people in temporary accommodation or sleeping rough?

Nearly 36,000 households were in temporary accommodation (defined as hostels, bed and breakfasts, hospitals, and prisons) immediately prior to their new social housing letting (14% of new lettings in 2021/22), another 5,000 households were sleeping rough (2%) and 56,000 households were living with friends and family (21%).

The households that were in temporary accommodation before their letting in 2021/22 consisted of 65,000 people, 21,000 of which were under 16 years old. Meanwhile the households sleeping rough consisted of 5,000 people,  300 of which were under 16 years old.

Over the past decade (since 2011/12):

• There were 4,000 fewer households moving from temporary accommodation, but this is an increase of 3% in terms of proportion of all new lettings (as the total number of households getting new social lets fell by 128,000).

• There were 5,000 fewer households entering social housing following a period of rough sleeping, a slight decrease of 0.8% in the proportion of all new lettings.

Temporary accommodation comprises hostels, bed and breakfasts, hospitals, prisons and any other unspecified temporary accommodation. This definition is consistent over time for CORE; however, other data sources may use a different definition. Within temporary accommodation as recorded in CORE, the largest specified category was bed and breakfasts, which was the previous tenure of 10% of households in temporary accommodation immediately before their new social letting.

How many new lettings went to statutorily homeless households?

Definition: Statutorily Homeless

Where a household is accepted as homeless by the local authority. This is the definition of homelessness introduced by the Homelessness Reduction Act 2018 which came into force on 1 April 2018, and includes households granted a prevention, relief or main duty.

Overall, 17% of new lettings in 2021/22 were to households deemed to be “statutorily homeless”, down from 20% in 2020/21. Prior to 2020/21 the proportion of new lettings to “statutorily homeless” households had been steadily increasing from a low of 13% in 2010/11.

The percentage of new lettings to statutorily homeless households fell slightly in 2021/22 after steadily increasing since 2013/14.

Figure 4: Percentage of households deemed statutorily homeless prior to letting, 2007/08 - 2021/22

4.4 Reasonable preference

What are the rules around getting into social housing?

Social housing in England is allocated based on need. By law, every local authority is required to have an allocation scheme for determining priorities between applicants and the procedure to be followed in allocating housing accommodation. See The charter for social housing residents: social housing white paper^{[footnote 2]}  published in November 2020 for more information.

The Localism Act 2011 gave local authorities the power to set their own qualification criteria. When setting these, local authorities will need to have regard to their duties under the equalities’ legislation, as well as the legal requirement to give overall priority for an allocation to people in the ‘Reasonable Preference categories’.

Definition: Reasonable Preference

Households must be given ‘Reasonable Preference’, i.e. priority, for social housing by the local authority if they meet one or more of:

• Homelessness (or threat of homelessness in the next 56 days)

• Insanitary, unsatisfactory or overcrowded conditions

• Medical welfare

• Hardship

Nearly half (47%) of new social lettings were to households given priority by a local authority (whether priority was given was unknown in 28% of new lettings). Since 2014/15 the number of households given priority has steadily risen from 34% to its current value, the the highest it has been since the question was introduced on CORE in 2012/13.

Households can be granted Reasonable Preference in multiple categories. The most common reason in 2021/22 was homelessness (or threat of homelessness), making up 17% of new lettings, where Reasonable Preference status was known.

Almost half of new General Needs lettings in 2021/22 were granted “Reasonable Preference” with homelessness being the most common reason.

Figure 5: Percentage of households granted Reasonable Preference and specific Reasonable Preference categories, 2021/22

Nearly half (49%) of new General Needs lets in 2021/22 were made under at least one Reasonable Preference category, compared to 39% of new Supported Housing lets. Both of these are similar to the previous year (48% and 39% respectively). Homelessness was the most common reason for both needs types as seen in Table 2.

Table 2: Numbers of new social lettings with specific Reasonable Preference reasons as a percentage of lettings where Reasonable Preference is known by needs type, 2021/22

Reasonable Preference reason	General Needs	Supported Housing
Household given Reasonable Preference because they were homeless or about to lose their home (within 56 days).	17%	16%
Household given Reasonable Preference because they were living in overcrowded or unsatisfactory housing	11%	2%
Household given Reasonable Preference because they had a need to move on medical and welfare grounds (including a disability)	11%	14%
Household given Reasonable Preference because they had a need to move to avoid hardship to tenant or others	6%	4%

5. Waiting lists

5.1 How long is the waiting list for social housing?

There were 1.21 million households on local authority waiting lists on 31 March 2022, a 2% increase compared to 31 March 2021. Since its peak in 2012 the number of households on local authority waiting lists has fallen by 34%.

Local authority waiting list size can be affected by other factors, including reviews by local authorities to remove households who no longer require housing. The frequency of reviews varies considerably and so the total number of households on waiting lists is likely to overstate the number of households who still require housing. If a household is on a waiting list in more than one local authority, they will be counted twice in the national figure, which will also increase the over count.

The Localism Act 2011 introduced changes allowing local authorities greater freedom over the way they manage their waiting lists, for example the introduction of a local connections test. This change may be partially responsible for the decrease in the number of households on waiting lists between 2012 and 2020^{[footnote 3]}.

The number of households on at least one local authority’s waiting list has been roughly stable at 1.2 million since 2017 after falling from a peak of 1.9 million in 2012.

Figure 6: Numbers of households on local authorities waiting lists, 1986/87 - 2021/22

5.2 How long were households on the waiting list for their local authority area?

59% of households who were new to the social housing sector in 2021/22 were on the waiting list for less than a year in that local authority area before they got their letting. 12% of households were on the waiting list for 5 years or more before getting a social letting in that area.

Households entering a new Supported Housing letting were more likely to be on the waiting list for less than a year than for General Needs (69% compared to 56%), but equally likely to be waiting 5 years or more (12%).

Households with a new Supported Housing let in 2021/22 generally spent less time on the waiting list before their new letting.

Figure 7: Percentages of new social lettings by the time they spent on the waiting list and needs type, 2021/22

Information on how long a household has spent on the waiting list was first collected in 2018/19. Since then the percentage of households new to the sector who were on the waiting list for less than a year has remained broadly constant. There has been a slight decrease in households waiting more than 5 years, from 14% to 12% over the same time period.

The time spent on waiting lists by households before getting social lettings has remained broadly consistent since 2018/19.

Figure 8: Percentages of new social lettings by the time they spent on the waiting list, 2018/19 - 2021/22

5.3 Is there a link between the type of household and how long they spend on the waiting list before getting a letting?

The time spent on the waiting list for those new to the social sector varies by household composition. Two-thirds (68%) of households composed of a sole occupant aged 60 years or more spent less than a year on the waiting list before starting a new let. In contrast, under half (47%) of households comprising a couple with at least one child spent less than a year on the waiting list.

5.4 Do households given Reasonable Preference spend less time on the waiting list?

Of households that were new to the social sector and were granted Reasonable Preference, 59% were on the waiting list for less than a year and 11% for more than 5 years. This is almost the same for households who were not granted Reasonable Preference (59% and 12% respectively).

The same pattern is evident when including households already living in the social sector, i.e. households with Reasonable Preference were on the waiting list for a similar amount of time as those without Reasonable Preference.

Data on when a household is given Reasonable Preference is not collected in CORE. It may be some time after a household first joins a waiting list, for example if circumstances change such as being threatened with homelessness.

6. Who lives in new social housing lettings?

6.1 Household composition

Over three-quarters (79%) of new lettings were to single adult led households (59% without children, 21%with children). This has changed little over the last decade. Of the single parents moving into social housing, 92% were women and 8% men. Almost a third of all new lettings contained at least one child (32%), while 15% contained a couple.

Over three-quarters of households in new social housing lettings in 2021/22 were led by single adults whilst a third of households contain children.

Figure 9: Percentages of new social lettings by their household composition, 2007/08 - 2021/22

Do we see different types of households in different types of letting?

Household composition differs quite markedly depending on the type of social housing, as different housing caters to different types of households. For instance, older people and those with long-term health conditions are more likely to live in Supported Housing.

In 2021/22, 72% of new Social Rent Supported Housing lettings by LAs were to older people, whereas 35% let by PRPs were to single adults. A far greater proportion of households in new General Needs lettings contain children and/or couples – 37% of new Social Rent lettings included at least one child, and 54% for Affordable Rent.

Single elders was the most common household composition for new Supported Housing lets in 2021/22 compared to Single female with child(ren) for General Needs.

Figure 10: Percentages of new social lettings by their household composition and needs types, 2021/22

6.2 Age and gender

Are tenants of new social lettings more likely to be younger and female?

The age and gender profile of tenants in new social lettings differs by the type of letting. This is because Supported Housing is aimed at people with specific needs, such as the elderly and the sick or disabled.

For General Needs new lettings, tenants were more likely to be younger and female than the general population in England.

• Children aged 0-15 years comprised over a third of people (35%) in new General Needs lettings in 2021/22.

• Under-35s were over-represented in new General Needs lets, at more than two-thirds (68%) of tenants, compared to 43% of the population of England^{[footnote 4]}.

• 71% of 16 to 34-year old lead tenants in new General Needs lets were women, likely to be reflecting the priority given to single parents, which tend to be single mothers.

For new Supported Housing lettings, tenants were more likely to be over 65 years, reflecting the special needs requiring Supported Housing.

• 27% of new Supported Housing lettings were to households with a lead tenant over 65 in 2021/22.

• Of lead tenants aged 25 to 64 years in new Supported Housing lettings, 60% were male.

Households in new General Needs lettings were younger than those in Supported Housing and the general population.

Figure 11: Percentages of people in new social lettings by age, sex and needs type compared to the general population, 2021/22

How has the age and gender profile of lead tenants in new social lettings changed over time?

New social lettings to the young have fallen – new lettings to lead tenants aged 16 to 24 years fell from 29% to 17% in Supported Housing and from 25% to 17% in General Needs, in the decade up to 2021/22.

New social lettings to the under 24s have steadily decreased over the last decade for both needs types.

Figure 12: Percentages of new lettings by age of lead tenant and needs type, 2007/08 - 2021/22

New social lettings to female lead tenants have increased for General Needs (from 58% to 62%) but slightly decreased for Supported Housing (from 46% to 45%) between 2011/12 and 2021/22.

Is the age profile of tenants in new social lettings different to those already in social housing?

Lead tenants in new social lettings tend to be younger than those in the social housing sector as a whole .

• In the social housing sector as a whole 46% of lead tenants were aged 55 and over, whilst only 18% were aged 16 to 35 years^{[footnote 5]} .

• In new social lettings these figures are almost reversed, with only 26% of lead tenants aged 55 and over, and 45% aged 16 to 35 years.

This is likely to be because most social housing tenancies are lifetime (see the accompanying Tenancies release for more analysis on lifetime tenancies). On average, social renters have lived in their current home for 13 years – compared to the average of 4 years for private renters ^{[footnote 6]}.

6.3 Ethnicity

Are some ethnic groups over-represented or under-represented in new social lettings?

The majority of lead tenants in 2021/22 were in the White ethnic group, comprising 81% of new lettings. This is similar to the general population in England^{[footnote 7]} where 81% identify as White. Black households were over-represented in new social housing lettings, making up 8% of lettings compared to 4% of the English population. Asian households were under-represented, constituting 5% of lettings but 10% of the population. The remaining  new lettings were to households with mixed race lead tenants and those who identified as Other making up 3% and 3% respectively, similar to the proportion in England.

The distribution of ethnicity of lead tenants has remained roughly stable over the last 13 years.

Figure 13: Percentages of households in new social lettings by grouped ethnicity of lead tenant (excluding White), 2007/08 - 2021/22

6.4 Nationality

Are any nationalities over-represented or under-represented in new social housing lets?

Most lead tenants in 2021/22 were UK nationals (90%). European nationals comprised 5% of lead tenants with the remaining 5% from nations outside the European Economic Area (EEA). This is similar to the composition of nationalities in the English population^{[footnote 8]}.

Lead tenants of new social lettings whose nationality is from outside the EEA are now more common than inside the EEA.

Figure 14: Percentages of households in new social lettings by grouped nationality of lead tenant (excluding UK nationals), 2007/08 - 2021/22

6.5 Economic status

30% of lead tenants in new social housing lettings in 2021/22 were in employment, an increase from  28% in 2020/21 which was a recent low and was likely due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this in employment still the most common economic status. 15% of lead tenants were unable to work due to sickness and 13% were retired, reflecting the age profile of social housing and those with specific housing needs. 16% of lead tenants were unemployed.

The economic status of tenants differs between housing types. Since Supported Housing is specifically designed for tenants with particular needs and tenants have an older age profile, fewer lead tenants are in work (8%, compared to 38% for General Needs). Supported Housing has a substantially larger proportion of retired lead tenants (31%, compared to 7% for General Needs).

Four times as many lead tenants in new General Needs tenancies in 2021/22 were employed, compared to Supported Housing.

Figure 15: Percentages of households in new social lettings by economic status of lead tenant and needs type, 2021/22

Has the proportion of tenants in new social lettings in work increased over time?

In General Needs new lettings, the proportion of lead tenants who were employed increased from 36% to 38% between 2020/21 and 2021/22. The proportion of lead tenants in employment in 2020/21 was likely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as it had been steadily rising until the recent peak in 2019/20 at 40%.

Employment of lead tenants in new General Needs lets rose in 2021/22 after a sudden dip in 2020/21.

Figure 16: Percentages of households in new General Needs lettings by economic status of lead tenant, 2007/08 - 2021/22

In Supported Housing new lettings, the economic status of lead tenants have remained similar to the previous year; 8% employed, 17% unemployed, 20% unable to work due to sickness and 31% retired.

The percentage of lead tenants in new Supported Housing lettings who are either retired or not seeking work has been increasing since 2019/20.

Figure 17: Percentages of households in new Supported Housing lettings by economic status of lead tenant, 2007/08 - 2021/22

Whether a household is in work or otherwise contributing to the community is a factor in some local authorities’ allocation policies. This may affect the employment rates of tenants in new social housing lettings across the country.

The percentage of lead tenants in new General Needs lettings in employment is higher in the South of England compared to the North.

Figure 18: Percentage of lead tenants in new General Needs lettings in employment by English region, 2021/22

How does this compare against the social rented sector as a whole and the general population in England?

Lead tenants in new social lettings made in 2021/22 were less likely to be employed and more likely to be unemployed than lead tenants in the social housing sector as a whole. In new lets, 30% of lead tenants were employed compared to 43% in the whole social sector^{[footnote 5]}. In contrast 16% were unemployed in new lets compared to 8% in the wider sector.

New lets were less likely to be made to retired lead tenants compared to the wider social sector (13% compared to 26%). This is likely to be explained by the use of lifetime tenancies.

The employment rate of lead tenants aged 16 to 64 years in new social lettings (33%) is far below that of the general population (76% in March 2022^{[footnote 9]}).

6.6 Vulnerable groups

What about people with disabilities or long-term illnesses?

43% of households with a new letting in 2021/22 included at least one person who had a physical or mental health conditions or illness lasting or expected to last for 12 months or more. 2021/22 was the first year information on long-term illnesses was collected on CORE and so observations on trends cannot yet be made.

Mental health was the most common long-term illness listed across General Needs and Supported Housing, with mobility a close second.

Figure 19: Percentages of households with long-term illnesses and specific categories of illness by needs type, 2021/22

In 2021/22, 15% of households included a tenant with a long-term illness or disability which prevented them from working, compared to  17% in 2020/21.

22% of new lettings were to households with specific disability-related housing needs (such as wheelchair access, mobility aids, or adaptations relating to visual/hearing impairment), an increase from 20% 2020/21.

Slightly more households in Supported Housing had specific disability-related housing needs than those in General Needs – 30% of Supported Housing new lets compared to 19% of General Needs new lets. This is expected as the purpose of Supported Housing is to provide support to people who have particular health needs. Compared to 2020/21 this was an increase from 27% of Supported Housing new lets and 18% of General Needs new lets.

What about veterans and members of the Armed Forces?

Many local authorities have adopted a residency or local connection test for social housing, as allowed under the 2011 Localism Act, with the aim of letting local housing to local people. To ensure members of the Armed Forces are not disadvantaged in accessing housing because of their service, which may take place overseas or involve moving from base to base, members of the Armed Forces are exempt from any local connection test. There is some variation but for most veterans this applies for up to 5 years after they leave the Armed Forces.

3,600 households given a new social housing letting in 2021/22 included someone who has served in the Armed Forces, approximately 2% of total lettings, which is the same as in the previous year. This is lower than the 7% of households in England containing an active member or veteran, from the 2021 Census.

Of the 3,600 households with a new social let 3,300 contained a member who had served in the regular Armed forces and 300 contained a member who had served as a reservist. 16% of these were injured or disabled as a direct result of serving in the Armed Forces, again similar to previous years.

Households containing someone who is still serving in the Armed Forces or had left up to 5 years ago were far more likely to have just moved to the local authority area of their new letting (21%) than veterans who left 5 or more years ago (14%) and the civilian population (9%) in 2021/22. This continues the trend since 2015/16 when this data was first collected.

7. What types of property are people getting?

7.1 Are people getting suitably sized properties for their new social letting?

To measure whether a property is an appropriate size we use a measure known as the bedroom standard, defined as:

Definition: Bedroom standard

This is the appropriate number of rooms for a household, according to law^{[footnote 11]}, where a separate bedroom is allocated to each:

• adult couple

• any remaining adult (aged 21 years or over)

• two adolescents (aged 10 to 20 years) of the same sex

• one adolescent (aged 10 to 20 years) and one child (aged 9 years or under) of the same sex

• two children (aged 9 years or under) regardless of sex

• any remaining child (aged 9 years or under)

For example, a couple with children of different sexes and less than 9 years old would be assigned 2 bedrooms, whereas if one of the children was older than 9 years then the household would be assigned 3 bedrooms.

For new lettings in 2021/22 the average bedroom standard was 1.5. Over the last decade this figure has remained constant.

The average bedroom standard differs by needs types - for new General Needs lettings in 2021/22 it was 1.6 ,while for Supported Housing it was 1.1. This is likely due to the different types of households that make up each needs type, for example Supported Housing is made up of more single adult households whereas there are more families in General Needs.

For Supported Housing there are allowances within the bedroom standard for scenarios where an extra room is needed due to medical conditions, for example if an additional room is required to store medical equipment. As CORE doesn’t collect information for why other bedrooms may be required, the average bedroom standard should be regarded as a slight under-estimate.

For General Needs properties we can compare the number of bedrooms in the property to the bedroom standard for the household to gauge whether or not the property is suitably sized.

On average, households in new General Needs lettings in 2021/22 were allocated a property of appropriate size - the average difference between the number of bedrooms a household has and the number they need according to the bedroom standard was 0.2. However, 2% of households were allocated a General Needs property that was too small for them, i.e where the bedroom standard was higher than the number of bedrooms in the property they received.

The proportion of households given a General Needs property that is too small for them according to the bedroom standard varies across the country, with it being highest in London at 6% whereas for the rest of the country it was between 1% and 2%.

London was the region with the greatest proportion of new General Needs lets using properties too small for the household in 2021/22, according to the bedroom standard.

Figure 20: Percentage of new General Needs lettings that were to households whose property had fewer bedrooms than the bedroom standard recommended for them, 2021/22

7.2 Are people having their housing needs met by their new social letting?

Over a fifth (22%) of new lettings in 2021/22 were to households with specific disability-related housing needs (such as wheelchair access, mobility aids, or adaptations relating to visual/hearing impairment).

Households with housing needs can specify their types of housing needs in CORE. For housing needs related to wheelchair access, we can also check whether the property the household is moving into has been designed or adapted to wheelchair user standards.

In 2021/22, when asked, 3,400 households said they required fully accessible housing. Of these households 64% received housing that had been designed or adapted to wheelchair user standards. This varied by needs type, with 60% for new General Needs lettings, compared to 69% for Supported Housing.

1,200 households said they required wheelchair access to essential rooms and of these 49% received housing that had been designed or adapted to wheelchair user standards. This varied by needs type, with 46% for new General Needs lettings, compared to 56% for Supported Housing.

8. Income and rent burden

8.1 Income and benefits

How much income do tenants in new social housing lets have?

The median net household income (including pensions and benefits) for households given a new social housing let in 2021/22 was £254 per week, which is an increase of £16 (or 7%) from the previous year.

The median net weekly household income varies by needs type. For General Needs it was £286, While for Supported Housing it was £140, less than half the General Needs median. This is likely to reflect the differing types of households – for example Supported Housing has a higher proportion of elderly and retired tenants, those unable to work due to sickness and disability, and singe-adult households.

There is a much greater spread in income for households in new General Needs lettings compared to new Supported Housing lettings in 2021/22.

Figure 21: Distribution of weekly net household incomes for new lettings by needs type, 2021/22

Have incomes of tenants in new lettings changed over time?

Median incomes for households in both new General Needs lettings and Supported Housing lettings have increased since 2007/08, from £142 to £286 per week (a 101% increase) for new General Needs lettings and from £84 to £140 per week (a 67% increase) for new Supported Housing lettings.

Meanwhile median household income for the general population of the UK has increased by 10% over the same time period^{[footnote 10]}. However despite this growth for both needs types they are still much lower than the UK median household income, with households in new General Needs lettings in 2021/22 having a median net weekly income of 46% the UK median whilst for new Supported Housing Lettings it was 23%.

Weekly income of households in new lets have been increasing steadily for both needs types since 2007/08 but remain well below the average UK income.

Figure 22: Weekly net household incomes for new lettings by needs type, 2007/08 - 2021/22

How much of household income comes from benefits?

Three-quarters of households in a new social letting in 2021/22 received some form of housing-related benefit – 42% of households received the Universal Credit housing element, a third received Housing Benefit, and the remaining quarter didn’t receive either.

Benefits receipt varies substantially between needs type. For new General Needs lets 73% of households received a housing-related benefit, which included 52% receiving Universal Credit housing element and 21% receiving Housing Benefit in 2021/22. For new Supported Housing lets the benefit type was reversed, with only 11% of households receiving the Universal Credit housing element but 69% receiving Housing Benefit, and 80% of households in total receiving some form of housing-related benefit.

Households in new General Needs lets are more likely to be receiving Universal Credit housing element and less likely to receive Housing Benefit than Supported Housing.

Figure 23: Percentage of households in new lettings receiving different housing-related benefits by needs type, 2021/22

Between 2012/13 and 2016/17 the proportion of households receiving a housing-related benefit fell from 83% to 72%, and has since remained roughly stable. However, in line with the gradual roll out of Universal Credit, the proportion of households receiving Housing Benefit has steadily decreased whilst the proportion receiving the Universal Credit housing element has increased.

The proportion of households receiving Housing Benefit has fallen since the roll out of Universal Credit.

Figure 24: Percentage of households in new lettings receiving different housing-related benefits, 2007/08 - 2021/22

Of households who knew whether they received pensions and/or benefits, just over half (55%) got their income solely from pensions and benefits, with a further 24% supplementing their earnings with pensions or benefits and the remaining 21% not claiming pensions or benefits.

Care should be taken before drawing conclusions about the wealth of a household since the income reported here is household income and household compositions differ.

8.2 Rent burden for new social housing lettings

Definition: Rent burden

This is the proportion of the household income spent on rent and service charge.

A high level of rent burden means a household has less money to spend on other things. This only considers rent and and eligible service charge (service charge that is eligible for housing benefit or universal credit), not other essentials such as bills and food. Rent burden is calculated for General Needs only as it uses an estimate of the amount of Housing Benefit the household receives which requires data on the number of bedrooms which is not collected for Supported Housing.

Households in a new General Needs letting spent 35% of their income on rent on average in 2021/22. This is similar to 2020/21 when it was 35%. Historically, there was a steady decline in rent burden from 2013/14 to 2018/19, however the figures from this period are not directly comparable due to a change in calculation method in 2019/20.

How does rent burden vary across the country?

Rent burden for new General Needs lets was highest in London with households on average spending 45% of their income on rent in 2021/22. In the rest of England, the lowest average spend of household income on rent was 30%, seen in the North East. This maintains the recent pattern of London having substantially higher rent burden for new General Needs social lets than other regions of England.

London is the region with the highest rent burden for new General Needs lettings in 2021/22.

Figure 25: Rent burden by English region, 2021/22

How does rent burden vary between households?

There was a difference in rent burden by age, where households with lead tenants between 35 to 44 years spending the lowest proportion of their income on rent at 32%, whereas those under 24 years old spent the highest proportion of their income on rent at 43%.

Lead tenants under 24 years old had the highest rent burden for new lettings in 2021/22.

Figure 26: Rent burden by age band of lead tenant for new social lettings, 2021/22

Footnotes

1. Population and household estimates, England and Wales: Census 2021, unrounded data . ↩ ↩²

2. The charter for social housing residents: social housing white paper. ↩ ↩²

3. Local authority housing statistics. ↩

4. Census 2021 Age by single year. ↩

5. English Housing Survey 2021 to 2022: headline report, Section 1: households annex tables, AT1_3 (Open Document Spreadsheet, 253 KB). ↩ ↩²

6. English Housing Survey 2021 to 2022: headline report, Section 1: households annex tables, AT1_22 (Open Document Spreadsheet, 253 KB). ↩

7. Ethnic group, England and Wales: Census 2021. ↩

8. National identity, England and Wales: Census 2021,National identity, England and Wales: Census 2021. ↩

9. LFS: Employment rate: England: Aged 16-64: All: %: SA. ↩

10. Housing Act 1985. ↩

11. The effects of taxes and benefits on household income, disposable income estimate, financial year ending 2022 edition of this dataset, Table 1. ↩