Accredited official statistics

Housing statistics July 2020, accessible version

Updated 3 February 2021

1. Key results

1.1 In the financial year 2019-20 there were 47,965 housing starts on site and 40,452 housing completions delivered through programmes managed by Homes England in England (excluding London for all programmes except those administered by Homes England on behalf of the Greater London Authority (GLA)). Levels of starts were the highest since Homes England started publishing housing statistics in 2009-10 and levels of completions were the highest since 2014-15. Homes England manages the Help to Buy (Equity Loan) scheme in England but the completions are reported by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) available from the webpage linked below ^{[footnote 1]} and are, therefore, excluded from this publication.

1.2 35,809 or 75 per cent of housing starts on site in 2019-20 were for affordable homes. This represents an increase of 17 per cent on the 30,567 affordable homes started in 2018-19, when they accounted for 66 per cent of all housing starts. The number of affordable starts was the highest since 2009-10.

1.3 17,015 affordable homes started were for Affordable Rent, a reduction of 4 per cent on the 17,772 started in 2018-19. A further 11,656 were for Intermediate Affordable Housing schemes, including Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy. This is an increase of 1 per cent on the 11,540 started in 2018-19. 2,399 were for Social Rent, an increase of 91 per cent on the 1,255 started in 2018-19. In addition, a further 4,739 affordable homes started with tenure to be confirmed^{[footnote 2]}. Of the affordable homes started in this period, the highest delivering programmes were: Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme (SOAHP) 2016-21^{[footnote 3]} with 91 per cent (up from 89 per cent), the Single Land Programme (SLP) with 4 per cent (up from 2 per cent) and the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) 2015-18 with 2 per cent (down from 5 per cent).

1.4 28,261 or 70 per cent of housing completions in 2019-20 were for affordable homes. This represents a reduction of 2 per cent on the 28,726 affordable homes completed in 2018-19. The drop in affordable completions is a result of delivery at certain points of a programme cycle of different and overlapping funding streams. Remaining delivery through the 2015-18 AHP is tapering off as expected as allocations complete. The 2015-18 AHP was followed by the launch of the SOAHP 2016-21 which is now seeing increasing delivery. The impact of Covid-19 on housebuilding in March, when there has historically been an increased rate of completions very close to year end, will also have had an effect on overall completion numbers.

1.5 16,863 affordable homes completed were for Affordable Rent, a decrease of 11 per cent on the 18,889 completed in the previous financial year. A further 9,920 were for Intermediate Affordable Housing schemes, including Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy, an increase of 12 per cent on the 8,842 completed in 2018-19. The remaining 1,478 were for Social Rent, a 49 per cent increase on last year’s 995. Of the affordable homes completed, the highest delivering programmes were the SOAHP 2016-21 with 81 per cent (up from 55 per cent), the AHP 2015-18 with 13 per cent (down from 39 per cent) and the SLP with 3.2 per cent (up from 2.6 per cent).

2. Introduction

Geographical coverage

2.1 This release presents the housing starts on site and housing completions delivered by Homes England between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2020 in England excluding London (for both the current and historical series^{[footnote 4]}) with the exception of the Build to Rent (BTR), Builders Finance Fund, Get Britain Building and The Home Building Fund – Short Term Fund (HBF – STF)^{[footnote 5]} programmes which are administered by Homes England on behalf of the Greater London Authority (GLA) and where delivery covers all of England including London.

Purposes and uses

2.2 The figures in this release show the supply of affordable and market housing delivered through Homes England’s programmes^{[footnote 6]} with the exception of Help to Buy (Equity Loan scheme), the statistics for which are published quarterly by MHCLG^{[footnote 7]}. Further details on housing types are available in section 6 of this release. MHCLG also publishes annual statistics on affordable housing supply in England^{[footnote 8]} showing the gross annual supply of affordable homes, irrespective of funding mechanism. Further information on the Affordable Housing Supply and Help to Buy releases is provided in section 8 of this release.

2.3 The data in this release are used by MHCLG to monitor delivery of affordable homes as part of the MHCLG business plan (see paragraph 8.3). Homes England uses the data to measure progress towards commitments made in its published Strategic Plan^{[footnote 9]} and its Annual Business Plan. Local authorities also use the data when compiling their annual return to MHCLG for the purpose of calculating the enhancement for affordable housing under the New Homes Bonus (NHB), a grant for local authorities to incentivise new housing supply.

What is included in this release?

2.4 This is the first release of data relating to delivery for the financial year ending 31 March 2020 and covers all current and historical programmes delivered by Homes England (summarised in Annex 1). These include the acquisition of existing land or property as well as new house building, and some programmes provide a mix of affordable and market housing. Affordable housing may be for home ownership (on Shared Ownership or Rent to Buy terms) or for rent.

2.5 Housing starts on site and housing completions are reported for each programme, where applicable.

2.6 A programme breakdown of the data is available in Table 1 of the tables accompanying this release^{[footnote 10]}. Further information on the accompanying tables is provided in section 4 of this release. Table A of the latest annual statistics on affordable housing supply in England published by MHCLG^{[footnote 11]} shows how Homes England programmes relate to the statistics on affordable housing published by MHCLG.

How is new subsidised housing provided?

2.7 Affordable homes delivered through Homes England programmes are funded by central government. The funding is administered by Homes England to fund investment partners (including private registered providers, house builders, community groups and local authorities) to deliver affordable housing.

2.8 With the exception of the Single Land Programme (SLP), funding for all programmes is allocated through an application/bidding process based on the assessment eligibility/criteria for each programme. Funding is paid in accordance with the contractual agreement for each programme. Investment for projects delivered under the SLP is determined in accordance with Homes England’s Framework Document^{[footnote 12]} and relevant commissioning template.

London

2.9 Since April 2012, the Mayor of London has had oversight of strategic housing, regeneration and economic development in London. This means that Homes England no longer publishes housing starts on site and completions for London, except where Homes England is administering a programme on behalf of the GLA. The historical series for London, which reflects past delivery by Homes England, is included in Homes England’s housing statistics published on 12 June 2012 (revised 24 August 2012) available from the housing statistics page on the Homes England section of GOV.UK^{[footnote 13]}.

2.10 MHCLG has combined the affordable housing statistics in this release with the GLA’s affordable housing statistics to produce Table 1012 showing total affordable housing starts on site and completions delivered nationally under the affordable housing programmes of Homes England and the GLA^{[footnote 14]}. This table excludes additional affordable housing delivery reported annually through local authority returns, which are included in MHCLG’s full annual release on affordable housing supply in England^{[footnote 11]}. The table includes any revisions made to London data since it was published by Homes England on 12 June 2012 (revised 24 August 2012). Further details are provided in section 8 of this release.

3. Housing outputs

This section provides the detailed statistics for housing starts and completions by tenure. It includes all Homes England programmes and analyses them over time^{[footnote 15]}.

Starts on site

Table 1a: Housing starts on site by tenure, England (excluding non-Homes England London delivery)

		Affordable Rent	Social Rent	Intermediate Affordable Housing	Intermediate Affordable Housing	Affordable Tenure TBC	Total Affordable Housing Starts	Market	Total Housing Starts
				Intermediate Rent	Affordable Home Ownership
2019-20	Apr - Sep	5,340	734	50	4,149	2,896	13,169	5,052	18,221
2019-20	Oct - Mar	11,675	1,665	105	7,352	1,843	22,640	7,104	29,744
2019-20	Full Year	17,015	2,399	155	11,501	4,739	35,809	12,156	47,965
2018-19	Apr - Sep	5,698	506	141	3,531	..	9,876	6,204	16,080
2018-19	Oct - Mar	12,074	749	176	7,692	..	20,691	9,199	29,890
2018-19	Full Year	17,772	1,255	317	11,223	..	30,567	15,403	45,970
2017-18	Apr - Sep	4,526	304	8	2,130	..	6,968	6,501	13,469
2017-18	Oct - Mar	12,633	1,314	108	7,017	..	21,072	7,616	28,688
2017-18	Full Year	17,159	1,618	116	9,147	..	28,040	14,117	42,157
2016-17	Apr - Sep	7,218	308	42	1,838	..	9,406	5,318	14,724
2016-17	Oct - Mar	14,895	629	8	4,201	..	19,733	6,693	26,426
2016-17	Full Year	22,113	937	50	6,039	..	29,139	12,011	41,150
2015-16	Apr - Sep	5,858	199	0	1,317	..	7,374	3,952	11,326
2015-16	Oct - Mar	10,686	431	5	2,822	..	13,944	7,838	21,782
2015-16	Full Year	16,544	630	5	4,139	..	21,318	11,790	33,108
2014-15	Apr - Sep	7,487	698	0	1,242	..	9,427	3,226	12,653
2014-15	Oct - Mar	14,392	547	21	2,071	..	17,031	5,676	22,707
2014-15	Full Year	21,879	1,245	21	3,313	..	26,458	8,902	35,360
2013-14	Apr - Sep	7,418	716	0	1,468	..	9,602	2,496	12,098
2013-14	Oct - Mar	17,764	1,864	0	3,162	..	22,790	3,413	26,203
2013-14	Full Year	25,182	2,580	0	4,630	..	32,392	5,909	38,301
2012-13	Apr - Sep	2,386	387	8	497	..	3,278	2,239	5,517
2012-13	Oct - Mar	15,670	2,398	26	3,873	..	21,967	12,294	34,261
2012-13	Full Year	18,056	2,785	34	4,370	..	25,245	14,533	39,778

Table notes:

• Since April 2012, the Mayor of London has had oversight of strategic housing, regeneration and economic development in London. This means that Homes England no longer publishes housing starts on site and completions for London (current and historical series) except for delivery in London under the Build to Rent, Builders Finance Fund, Get Britain Building and The Home Building Fund – Short Term Fund (HBF – STF) programmes which are administered by Homes England on behalf of the GLA. The historical series for London included in Homes England’s housing statistics published on 12 June 2012 (revised 24 August 2012) is available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-statistics
• Figures by local authority and Homes England’s operating areas are available in the accompanying tables.
• Tenure will be determined on completion of the unit and will be restated in future releases under its appropriate tenure.
• Total affordable housing is the sum of Affordable Rent, Social Rent, Intermediate Rent and Affordable Home Ownership.
• The market units delivered under the Accelerated Land Disposal, Build to Rent, Builders Finance Fund, Economic Assets, Get Britain Building, Kickstart Housing Delivery, Property and Regeneration, Single Land and the HBF – STF programmes may include some starts on site and completions which are made available at below market price or rents but do not meet the definition for affordable housing.
• To ensure consistent reporting with completions, with effect from 1 April 2014 the range of products reported for affordable housing starts on site includes the start on site for new build homes where the procurement route is such that the provider purchases the home at completion. For reporting purposes, the start on site date is taken as the date of completion.

Charts 1a and 1b on page 7 of the pdf could not be made fully accessible. Please contact [email protected] stating the name of this document if you need this information.

In the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 (financial year 2019-20)

3.1 A total of 47,965 homes started on site, representing an increase of 1,995 or 4 per cent compared to 45,970 started in the previous year. Levels of starts in 2019-20 were the highest since Homes England started publishing its housing statistics in 2009-10.

3.2 35,809 or 75 per cent of housing starts on site were for affordable homes - an increase of 17 per cent on the 30,567 affordable homes started in the previous financial year.

3.3 17,015 affordable homes started were for Affordable Rent, a reduction of 4 per cent on the 17,772 started in 2018-19. A further 11,656 were for Intermediate Affordable Housing schemes, including Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy. This is an increase of 1 per cent on the 11,540 started in 2018-19. 2,399 were for Social Rent, an increase of 91 per cent on the 1,255 started in 2018-19. In addition, a further 4,739 affordable homes started with tenure to be confirmed. The tenure for these units will not be known until completion and they will be restated under their appropriate tenure in future releases.

3.4 Table 1b below shows the percentage of Homes England’s affordable housing starts on site delivered by each operating area compared to the previous year^{[footnote 16]}. A map showing the operating area boundaries is available at Annex 2.

Table 1b: Affordable Housing Starts on Site - Percentage Delivery by Homes England Operating Area

	2019-20	2018-19
South East	32%	33%
South West	18%	18%
North West	17%	18%
Midlands	17%	16%
North East, Yorkshire and the Humber	16%	16%

3.5 The number of market starts on site reduced by 21 per cent to 12,156 compared to 15,403 started in the previous financial year. The SLP produced the majority of these at 7,907 or 65 per cent. The HBF – STF delivered 4,249 or 35 per cent, a decrease of 2,839 or 40 per cent on the previous year. The number of market starts tend to fluctuate between periods due to the nature of the programmes – with relatively fewer projects (compared to affordable housing programmes) delivering a greater number of units per project and commencing at varying times throughout the year.

Completions (excluding Help to Buy):

Table 2a: Housing completions by tenure, England (excluding Help to Buy and non-Homes England London delivery)

		Affordable Rent	Social Rent	Intermediate Affordable Housing	Intermediate Affordable Housing	Total Affordable Housing Completions	Market	Total Housing Completions
				Intermediate Rent	Affordable Home Ownership
2019-20	Apr - Sep	6,405	562	27	3,362	10,356	4,690	15,046
2019-20	Oct - Mar	10,458	916	128	6,403	17,905	7,501	25,406
2019-20	Full Year	16,863	1,478	155	9,765	28,261	12,191	40,452
2018-19	Apr - Sep	7,912	326	7	2,824	11,069	4,799	15,868
2018-19	Oct - Mar	10,977	669	48	5,963	17,657	6,825	24,482
2018-19	Full Year	18,889	995	55	8,787	28,726	11,624	40,350
2017-18	Apr - Sep	7,219	174	0	1,900	9,293	2,723	12,016
2017-18	Oct - Mar	12,544	859	34	3,132	16,569	5,321	21,890
2017-18	Full Year	19,763	1,033	34	5,032	25,862	8,044	33,906
2016-17	Apr - Sep	7,096	218	1	1,338	8,653	2,957	11,610
2016-17	Oct - Mar	11,184	373	4	2,671	14,232	5,252	19,484
2016-17	Full Year	18,280	591	5	4,009	22,885	8,209	31,094
2015-16	Apr - Sep	4,681	684	0	1,032	6,397	3,082	9,479
2015-16	Oct - Mar	8,419	813	2	1,759	10,993	4,919	15,912
2015-16	Full Year	13,100	1,497	2	2,791	17,390	8,001	25,391
2014-15	Apr - Sep	7,447	865	0	2,141	10,453	3,682	14,135
2014-15	Oct - Mar	23,387	2,124	18	4,882	30,411	6,218	36,629
2014-15	Full Year	30,834	2,989	18	7,023	40,864	9,900	50,764
2013-14	Apr - Sep	4,569	1,135	84	2,511	8,299	2,540	10,839
2013-14	Oct - Mar	12,525	3,340	19	3,423	19,307	4,281	23,588
2013-14	Full Year	17,094	4,475	103	5,934	27,606	6,821	34,427
2012-13	Apr - Sep	1,074	3,590	135	5,078	9,877	2,258	12,135
2012-13	Oct - Mar	5,505	6,013	239	6,966	18,723	2,882	21,605
2012-13	Full Year	6,579	9,603	374	12,044	28,600	5,140	33,740

Table notes:

• See notes below Table 1a
• Some of the market completions delivered since 2013-14 may include houses sold to purchasers who have received assistance through the Help to Buy scheme to buy a property at market value from a house builder where the scheme as a whole may have benefitted from funding through another programme. Help to Buy is reported by MHCLG (see https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/help-to-buy-equity-loan-and-newbuy-statistics)

Charts 2a and 2b on page 10 of the pdf could not be made accessible. Please contact [email protected] stating the name of this document if you need this information.

In the period 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020 (financial year 2019-20)

3.6 40,452 homes were completed, an increase of 102 or 0.3 per cent compared to the 40,350 completed the previous financial year.

3.7 28,261 affordable homes were completed, a decrease of 465 or 2 per cent compared to 28,726 completed in the previous financial year. The drop in affordable completions is a result of delivery of different and overlapping funding streams. Delivery through the 2015-18 AHP is tapering off as allocations complete, while the launch of SOAHP 2016-21 is now seeing increasing delivery. The impact of Covid-19 on housebuilding in March, when there has historically been an increased rate of completions very close to year end, will also have had an effect on overall completion numbers.

3.8 16,863 or 60 per cent of affordable completions were for Affordable Rent, a decrease of 2,026 or 11 per cent compared to the 18,889 completed in the previous financial year. Intermediate Affordable Housing accounted for a further 9,920 or 35 per cent, an increase of 1,078 or 12 per cent compared to the 8,842 completed in the previous financial year. The remaining 1,478 or 5 per cent of affordable homes completed were for Social Rent, an increase of 483 or 49 per cent compared to the 995 completed in the previous financial year. These fluctuations reflect the funding being focussed on intermediate tenures in the early years of the 2016-21 programme with the grant funding subsequently opening up to Affordable Rent and Social Rent in subsequent years.

3.9 Table 2b below shows the percentage of Homes England’s affordable housing completions delivered by each operating area compared to the same period last year.

Table 2b: Affordable Housing Completions - Percentage Delivery by Operating Area

	2019-20	2018-19
South East	31%	28%
South West	20%	21%
North West	17%	19%
Midlands	16%	15%
North East, Yorkshire and the Humber	16%	17%

3.10 12,191 market homes completed, an increase of 567 or 5 per cent on the 11,624 that completed in the previous financial year. Fluctuations in the number of market completions between periods reflects the nature of the programmes, with different types and sizes of sites commencing at different times and having varying build-out rates. The principal components are the SLP (6,156 completions, a decrease of 41), the HBF - STF (5,291 completions, an increase of 1,376) and BTR (631 completions, a decrease of 792).

4. Accompanying tables

4.1 The tables accompanying this release are available to download from the housing statistics page on the Homes England section of GOV.UK^{[footnote 17]} and include the following.

Table 1

Housing starts on site and completions by programme and tenure for:

• 1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020 with half year analysis
• 1 April 2018 – 31 March 2019 with half year analysis
• 1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018 with half year analysis
• 1 April 2016 – 31 March 2017 with half year analysis
• 1 April 2015 – 31 March 2016 with half year analysis
• 1 April 2014 – 31 March 2015 with half year analysis
• 1 April 2013 – 31 March 2014 with half year analysis
• 1 April 2012 – 31 March 2013 with half year analysis
• 1 April 2011 – 31 March 2012 with half year analysis
• 1 April 2010 – 31 March 2011 with half year analysis
• 1 April 2009 – 31 March 2010 with half year analysis

Table 2a

Housing starts on site and completions by local authority district and tenure (all programmes except Help to Buy), 1 April 2019 – 31 March 2020.

Table 2b

Housing starts on site and completions by local authority district and tenure (all programmes except Help to Buy), 1 April 2018 – 31 March 2019.

Table 2c

Housing starts on site and completions by local authority district and tenure (all programmes except Help to Buy), 1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018.

4.2 Housing starts on site and completions by local authority district and tenure (all programmes except Help to Buy) for historical periods are available to download from the Homes England housing statistics web page^{[footnote 18]}.

4.3 In a small number of cases, Homes England funding to an affordable housing provider may be to support a person or family to be housed in a local authority that is different to the one in which they currently reside. The local authority presentations in Table 2a, 2b and 2c are based on the local authority district in which the house is located. These tables also identify the Homes England operating area in which each local authority is located.

4.4 We can provide programme level statistics for specified local authority areas in response to requests made to [email protected].

5. Revisions

Revisions policy

5.1 Homes England has adopted the revisions policy developed by MHCLG^{[footnote 19]}. This policy covers two types of revisions.

Scheduled revisions

5.2 These statistics are drawn from funding and project administration systems and therefore updated information can be provided by funding recipients and developers after the official statistics have been extracted and compiled from these systems. This is particularly the case during the financial year and figures for the first six months of the year, as reported in the November/December release, are subject to scheduled revision in the release of financial year data in May/June. It is also possible for revisions to be made for earlier periods, although procedures are in place to minimise the scale of these.

5.3 As notified in our release of official statistics published on 11 June 2013, we will make scheduled revisions once a year in May/June. These revisions will cover the first six months of the full year being reported together with revisions for the previous two financial years. Data for earlier years will be regarded as final and there will be no further changes.

Non-scheduled revisions

5.4 If a substantial error occurs as a result of the production process, the statistical release and accompanying tables will be updated with a correction notice as soon as is practical.

5.5 If, as a result of new information, there are significant changes to the figures in years outside of the scheduled revisions period, that information will be revised in the May/June release together with scheduled revisions.

Revisions in this release

Revisions for the six-month period ending 30 September 2019

5.6 The total housing starts figure for SOAHP 2016-21 programme has increased by 833 units from 10,907 to 11,740. The increase relates to Strategic Partnership starts connected with delivery processing routes where the start is recorded at completion.

5.7 The total housing starts figure for the SLP has increased by 364 units from 3,295 to 3,659. The net increase relates to the receipt of updated information from developers.

5.8 The total housing completions figure for the SLP has increased by 90 units from 2,556 to 2,646. The net increase relates to the receipt of updated information from developers.

5.9 The total housing starts figure for the HBF – STF has increased by 69 units from 2,149 to 2,218. The decrease relates to the receipt of updated information from developers.

5.10 The total housing completions figure for the HBF – STF has increased by 164 units from 1,896 to 2,060. The net increase relates to the receipt of updated information from developers.

Revisions for the financial year ending 31 March 2019 (2018-19)

5.11 The total housing completions figure for the AHP 2015-18 Programme has increased by 5 units from 11,113 to 11,118. This increase was due to an error in previously published data in which the units were wrongly identified as belonging to the Right to Buy Replacement programme.

5.12 The total housing completions figure for the Right to Buy Replacement programme has decreased by 5 units from 211 to 206. This decrease is related to 5.12 above.

5.13 The total housing completions figure for SOAHP 2016-21 has decreased by 6 units from 15,878 to 15,872. The decrease relates to 6 units that were subsequently removed from the programme due to reclassification of the works carried out.

The revisions listed in paragraphs 5.14 to 5.21 below are all as a result of new information received following validation exercises undertaken since last June’s publication.

5.14 The total housing starts figure for the SLP increased by 197 units from 8,774 to 8,971.

5.15 The total housing completions figure for the SLP increased by 54 units from 6,881 to 6,935.

5.16 The total housing starts figure for the HBF – STF increased by 81 units from 7,779 to 7,860.

5.17 The total housing completions figure for the HBF – STF increased by 13 units from 4,059 to 4,072.

Revisions for the financial year ending 31 March 2018 (2017-18)

5.8 The total housing starts figure for the SLP has decreased by 383 units from 8,975 to 8,592.

5.19 The total housing completions figure for the SLP decreased by 169 units from 6,162 to 6,093.

5.20 The total housing starts figure for the HBF – STF decreased by 189 units from 6,853 to 6,664.

5.21 The total housing completions figure for the HBF – STF increased by 216 units from 1,754 to 1,970.

5.22 The total housing starts figure for the AHP 2015-18 Programme has increased by 26 units from 5,865 to 5,891. This increase was due to an error in previously published data in which the units were wrongly identified as belonging to the Right to Buy Replacement programme.

5.23 The total housing starts figure for the Right to Buy Replacement programme has decreased by 26 units from 326 to 300. This decrease is related to 5.23 above.

If you would like to comment on our revisions policy please contact Mike Shone by email at [email protected].

6. Definitions

Affordable housing

Affordable Housing is the sum of Affordable Rent, Social Rent, Intermediate Rent and Affordable Home Ownership (Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy). Affordable homes are defined in line with the National Planning Policy Framework^{[footnote 20]}, published 27 March 2012 and updated 19 February 2019, as housing units (or traveller pitches and bed spaces when describing a shared dwelling such as a hostel) provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the market.

Eligibility may be determined with regard to local authority allocations policies, local incomes and local house prices depending on the type of affordable housing. Affordable housing should include provisions to remain at an affordable price for future eligible households or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision. The term ‘affordable housing’ is equivalent to ‘social housing’ as defined in Section 68 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008^{[footnote 21]}.

Affordable rented housing

Affordable rented housing is a form of social housing, introduced in 2011. It may only be delivered with grant through the AHP 2011-15 and other associated and subsequent programmes or without grant by local authority and other providers, where a contract or confirmation of the ability to charge an Affordable Rent is in place. Affordable rented homes are let by local authorities or private registered providers of social housing to households who are eligible for social rented housing. Affordable Rent is subject to rent controls that require a rent of up to 80 per cent of the local market rent (including service charges, where applicable).

Social rented housing

Social rented housing is rented housing owned and managed by local authorities and private registered providers, for which target rents are determined through the national rent regime. It may also include rented housing managed by other persons and provided under equivalent rental arrangements to the above.

Intermediate affordable housing

Intermediate affordable housing is housing at prices and rents above those of Social Rent but below market price or rents, and which meet the criteria as set out in the definition for affordable housing. These can include Shared Ownership, equity loan products, Rent to Buy and Intermediate Rent. Intermediate rented housing was eligible for funding under the now closed NAHP.

Equity loan scheme

Under an equity loan scheme for affordable housing, the majority of the cost (usually at least 70 per cent) is funded by the purchaser through a mortgage and savings (deposit). The remaining cost of the home is paid for by the government and the house builder through an equity loan.

The property title is held by the home owner who can therefore sell their home at any time and upon sale should provide the government and the house builder the value of the same equity share of the property when it is sold. In the historical series covered by this release, equity loan was available under FirstBuy, Kickstart and the NAHP (HomeBuy Direct). There are a small number of equity loan cases in the current series.

Shared Ownership scheme

Under a Shared Ownership scheme for affordable housing, the purchaser pays for an initial share of between 25 per cent and 75 per cent of the home’s value with the option to increase their ownership if they later choose and can afford to do so. The provider owns the remaining share and rent is paid on the landlord’s share. The rent is up to 3 per cent of the share’s value. Shared ownership properties are always leasehold homes.

Rent to Buy scheme

Under the Rent to Buy scheme for affordable housing, homes are let at an Intermediate Rent to tenants who plan to buy in the future but need a period of lower rents to help them to save for a deposit. After an initial rental period (at least the first five years of the life of the property) the tenant has the option to buy outright the home they are living in. Grant funded Intermediate Rent has to be set at no more than 80 per cent of the market rate.

Market housing

Market housing is private housing (or bed spaces) for rent or for sale where the rental value or market price is set mainly in the open market.

Acquisitions (non-new build)

Acquisitions (non-new build) are additions to affordable or market housing supply that take place without building a new property. This can include the purchase of existing properties for use as affordable or market housing. It may also include empty properties brought back into use. These will normally be long term empty properties where rehabilitation works are required and which would not otherwise come back into use without intervention. Conversions of existing affordable or market properties are only included where there is substantial re-improvement works carried out to the fabric of the building (for example the conversion of bedsits to self-contained apartments). Repairs or simple refurbishment of properties are not included.

Housing starts on site

Housing starts on site are reported when the provider/developer and builder have entered into the house building contract, the building contractor has taken possession of the site and the start on site works have commenced. Starts on site are not applicable for Mortgage Rescue or for equity loan products delivered under FirstBuy.

Housing completions

Housing completions are reported when the units are fit for occupation or, in the case of Mortgage Rescue and equity loan products delivered under FirstBuy, the Kickstart Housing Delivery Programme, the AHP 2011-15 and the National Affordable Housing Programme, at the point of completion of the purchase.

Private registered providers

Private registered providers, under the terms of the 2008 Housing and Regeneration Act^{[footnote 22]}, are organisations which provide social housing, either in a for-profit or not-for-profit capacity, and who are registered on the Statutory Register of Providers of Social Housing maintained by Homes England. Most private registered providers are housing associations. The term excludes local authorities, who also provide social housing.

Any private provider wishing to deliver Affordable Rent homes, who has not contracted with Homes England through a Grant Agreement, must contract with Homes England through a Short Form Agreement to deliver Affordable Rent without grant. The definition of private registered providers is not affected by the Office for National Statistics’ recent decision to classify them to the private sector for National Accounts and statistical purposes.

7. Data sources and quality

7.1 Data for the following programmes have been produced using our Investment Management System (IMS), which contains information provided by investment partners in accordance with monitoring requirements for the payment of grant: Affordable Homes Guarantees, AHP, AHP 2015-18, Care and Support Specialised Housing, Empty Homes, Empty Homes Round Two, FirstBuy, Homelessness Change, Homelessness Change 2015-18, the Kickstart Housing Delivery Programme (HomeBuy Direct and National Affordable Housing Programme), the Local Authority New Build Programme, Mortgage Rescue, the National Affordable Housing Programme, Platform for Life, Rent to Buy, Right to Buy Replacement, Short Form Agreements, SOAHP 2016-21 and Traveller Pitch Funding.

7.2 Data for the following programmes have been produced using our Project Control System, which is maintained by our own staff based on the best information currently available: Accelerated Land Disposal, Build to Rent, Builders Finance Fund, Economic Assets, Get Britain Building, Kickstart Housing Delivery (Investment Support), Property and Regeneration, Single Land and the HBF – STF programmes.

7.3 The levels of affordable housing starts on site and completions recorded in the first half of the year reflect the historical annual delivery profile of the programmes. Homes England data is dependent on the submission of grant claims by providers and historically the majority have been submitted in the second half of the year. The table below shows the percentage of affordable housing delivered in each half of the year since 2009-10.

Table 3: Affordable Housing - Half Yearly Percentage Delivery

Year	Period	Total Affordable Housing Starts	Total Affordable Housing Completions
2019-20	Apr - Sep	37%	37%
2019-20	Oct - Mar	63%	63%
2018-19	Apr - Sep	32%	39%
2018-19	Oct - Mar	68%	61%
2017-18	Apr - Sep	25%	36%
2017-18	Oct - Mar	75%	64%
2016-17	Apr - Sep	32%	38%
2016-17	Oct - Mar	68%	62%
2015-16	Apr - Sep	35%	37%
2015-16	Oct - Mar	65%	63%
2014-15	Apr - Sep	36%	26%
2014-15	Oct - Mar	64%	74%
2013-14	Apr - Sep	30%	30%
2013-14	Oct - Mar	70%	70%
2012-13	Apr - Sep	13%	35%
2012-13	Oct - Mar	87%	65%
2011-12	Apr - Sep	4%	28%
2011-12	Oct - Mar	96%	72%
2010-11	Apr - Sep	27%	36%
2010-11	Oct - Mar	73%	64%
2009-10	Apr - Sep	21%	37%
2009-10	Oct - Mar	79%	63%

Some of the significant variations are explained below.

In 2011-12 delivery was lower than usual with 4 per cent of starts on site and 28 per cent of completions delivered in the first half of the year. The low percentage of starts on site was atypical because the distribution was impacted by the closure of the National Affordable Housing Programme, the Local Authority New Build Programme and the Kickstart Housing Delivery Programme to new commitments in March 2011. Delivery was further impacted by the AHP 2011-15 programme not commencing delivery of housing starts until the second half of 2011-12.

In 2012-13, 13 per cent of starts on site and 35 per cent of completions were delivered in the first half of the year, reflecting an increase in delivery of the AHP 2011-15.

8. Related statistics

Affordable housing starts on site and completions funded by Homes England and the GLA

8.1 Since April 2012, the Mayor of London has had oversight of strategic housing, regeneration and economic development in London. This means that Homes England no longer publishes affordable housing starts on site and completions for London, except for delivery in London under the Builders Finance Fund (now called The Home Building Fund – Short Term Fund) and Get Britain Building programmes which are administered by Homes England on behalf of the GLA. Responsibility for publication of other London delivery has been taken over by the GLA. In addition to its annual release, MHCLG combines half-year data from Homes England and the GLA to publish six monthly affordable housing starts on site and completions delivered nationally under the affordable housing programmes of Homes England and the GLA.

8.2 The combined statistics published by MHCLG are available from the MHCLG website^{[footnote 23]} and housing statistics published by the GLA are available from the GLA website^{[footnote 24]}.

8.3 Delivery of affordable homes forms part of the MHCLG business plan. Homes England is responsible for the administration of the programmes that deliver affordable housing (as described in section 2) and report on progress in their annual report^{[footnote 25]}.

Affordable housing supply

8.4 The annual Affordable Housing Supply release published by MHCLG (see paragraph 2.2), includes delivery of affordable housing, but not market housing. Starts information was only available from data provided by Homes England and the GLA in 2015-16. For 2016-17 data on starts was also collected from local authorities. However, the submission of starts data by local authorities is voluntary as some of them may be unable to provide figures. This means that starts funded directly by local authorities or by planning agreements that are not included in the Homes England or GLA statistics were not included in 2015-16 data and may be under reported in subsequent publications. Delivery through Homes England (and the GLA) accounts for the majority of Affordable Housing Supply, but the scope of the statistics reported by MHCLG is wider. It also includes delivery through other Homes England and GLA programmes not reported here (such as Social HomeBuy and Right to Acquire) as well as affordable housing not covered by Homes England and GLA programmes that is reported in local authority returns to the Ministry. The MHCLG publication provides less detail about the individual Homes England programmes and focuses more on the properties of the units delivered, such as tenure and whether they are new build or acquisitions. The ‘Data sources’ section of the MHCLG release provides more information about the coverage of the release^{[footnote 23]}.

Help to Buy

8.5 The Help to Buy (Equity Loan scheme) release published by MHCLG details the number of home purchases and the value of equity loans under the Government’s Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme. Homes England is responsible for all Help to Buy (Equity Loan scheme) delivery including London. The number of home purchases delivered through Homes England is published by MHCLG together with information about the type and price of properties purchased, purchaser deposits and applicant incomes^{[footnote 26]}.

9. Other information

Pre-release access

9.1 Details of officials who receive pre-release access to the release up to 24 hours before publication are available from the housing statistics page on the Homes England section of GOV.UK^{[footnote 27]}.

A brief history of Homes England

9.2 Homes England was launched by the Secretary of State on 11 January 2018. Homes England is the trading name of Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) (the legal entity). The HCA was created on 1 December 2008 by bringing together the regeneration body English Partnerships (including the Property and Regeneration programme), the investment arm of the Housing Corporation (including the National Affordable Housing Programme), the Academy for Sustainable Communities and a number of housing and regeneration programmes from the MHCLG. In October 2011, the HCA took responsibility for the land and property assets of eight of England’s nine Regional Development Agencies, ahead of their operational closure in March 2012. On 1 April 2012, the HCA’s former London operating area transferred to the GLA.

United Kingdom Statistics Authority

9.3 The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:

• meet identified user needs
• are well explained and readily accessible
• are produced according to sound methods
• are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest

Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed.

Future publication dates

9.4 Our official statistics for the period 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020 will be published in November/December 2020.

Responsible statistician

The responsible statistician for this statistical release is Mike Shone.

10. User consultation

10.1 Users’ comments on any issues relating to this statistical release are welcomed and encouraged. Responses should be sent to the “Statistical Enquiries” address given below:

Enquiries

Media Enquiries

Email: [email protected] Tel: 020 7874 8262

Statistical Enquiries

Mike Shone (c/o) Email: [email protected] Tel: 01234 242537

Annexe 1

Homes England’s programmes

The following table and links provide information about Homes England’s programmes which are funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government except for Care and Support Specialised Housing, Homelessness Change 2015-18 and Platform for Life which are funded by the Department of Health.

Programme	Programme Summary	Tenure	Build Type
Accelerated Land Disposal	The Accelerated Land Disposal programme was announced in the Budget 2011 to support the additional or accelerated delivery of 3,000 housing starts on site by 31 March 2015. With effect from 1 April 2015, existing commitments transferred to the Single Land Programme.	Social Rent / AHO / Market	NB
Affordable Homes Guarantees	On 6 September 2012, the Government announced its proposal to guarantee up to £10bn of debt to help housing providers expand the provision of both purpose built private rented and affordable housing. As well as the Guarantee for the Affordable Homes element, the Government confirmed that it would make £225m of funding available for new affordable housing, for use where needed alongside the Affordable Homes Guarantee. This funding was then doubled in the 2013 Budget to £450m, including London, to support up to 30,000 new affordable homes.	Aff. Rent / Social Rent / AHO	NB/A
Affordable Homes Programme	The Affordable Homes Programme was announced as part of the Government’s Spending Review 2010 and delivered over 58,000 (excluding London) new affordable homes by 31 March 2015, with rents set at up to 80 per cent of market rent.	Aff. Rent / Social Rent / AHO	NB/A
Affordable Homes Programme 2015 - 18	The Affordable Homes Programme 2015-18 replaced the Affordable Homes Programme 2011-15 and aims to increase the supply of new affordable homes in England by March 2018. It is now closed although commitments agreed under this programme will be delivered during the 2016-21 period.	Aff. Rent / Social Rent / AHO (Shared Ownership)	NB/A
Build to Rent	The Build to Rent Fund was launched in December 2012 in response to the recommendations of the Montague report to stimulate new private rented housing supply and to provide opportunities for new institutional investment in the sector. It will support the delivery of up to 10,000 new homes.	Market	NB
Builders Finance Fund	The £525 million Builders Finance Fund is designed to help restart and speed up housing developments between 5 and 250 units that have slowed down or stalled. Its main objective is to address difficulties in accessing development finance faced by some house builders, particularly smaller developers, and to help bring forward stalled but viable sites. With effect from October 2016, existing commitments transferred to the Home Building fund – Short Term Fund.	Social Rent / Int. Rent / AHO / Market	NB/A
Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund	The Department of Health’s Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund (CASSH) provides funding for housing for older people and adults with disabilities (physical or sensory disabilities, mental health needs and learning disabilities & autism). The fund is spilt into two phases. Phase 1 was launched in October 2012 and phase 2 was launched in February 2015. The initial budget for the programme was £160m over five years (2013-14 to 2017-18) outside London. In 2013, this was increased by a further £80m and the delivery time frame extended to 2020-21.	Aff. Rent / Social Rent / AHO (Shared Ownership)	NB/A
Economic Assets	The Economic Assets programme was announced in the Budget 2011 and worked with partners to ensure the effective use and disposal of more than 300 land and property assets transferred from the former Regional Development Agencies. With effect from 1 April 2015, existing commitments transferred to the Single Land Programme.	Social Rent / Int. Rent / AHO / Market	NB/A
Empty Homes	The Empty Homes programme was announced as part of the Government’s Spending Review 2010 to bring back into use empty residential properties (in private ownership) as affordable housing. The programme delivered 2,759 homes by 30 September 2016 outside London.	Aff. Rent / Social Rent / AHO	A
Empty Homes Round Two	In November 2012 a second round of funding was launched to bring back into use empty properties as affordable housing. As well as residential properties (in private ownership), the programme had an emphasis on the refurbishment of empty commercial and non- residential properties. The programme delivered 868 homes by 31 March 2017 outside London.	Aff. Rent / Social Rent / AHO	A
FirstBuy	The FirstBuy scheme was announced in the Budget 2011 to help support 10,000 first time buyers on the property ladder. The scheme was expanded in September 2012 and from 1 April 2013 was replaced with Help to Buy	AHO	NB
Get Britain Building	The Get Britain Building programme was set up to unlock more than 12,000 homes on stalled sites with planning permission through access to development finance.	Social Rent / Int. Rent / AHO / Market	NB
Help to Buy (equity loan)	Help to Buy was announced in the Budget 2013 to help purchasers struggling to buy a new build home. It offers a maximum 20% (40% in London) equity loan (minimum 10%) on new build properties up to a maximum purchase price of £600,000. Launched in April 2013 with an initial budget of £3.7bn, the programme aspired to support 74,000 plus homebuyers in the first 3 years. The 2015 Spending Review confirmed £8.6bn of funding and extended the programme to 2021 to assist an anticipated 145,000 purchases. In October 2017, the Government announced it will invest a further £10 billion in the Help to Buy Equity Loan programme. More than 130,000 completions have already taken place by people using the equity loan, which helps people buy a new build home with only a 5% deposit. The new funding means that the Help to Buy Equity Loan could help around 135,000 more people to buy homes by 2021. This would bring the total number of households across England that would be supported through the scheme since it began in 2013 to around 360,000.	Market	NB
Homelessness Change	The Homelessness Change Programme was announced as part of the Government’s Spending Review 2010 and delivered 1,128 new or refurbished bed spaces in hostel accommodation by 31 March 2015 (outside London).	Aff. Rent	NB/A
Homelessness Change 2015-18	Homes England is allocating a share of up to £25 million capital funding for specialist housing providers, on behalf of the Department of Health, to bring forward proposals for developing and improving hostel accommodation and facilities for the delivery of healthcare, training or education aimed at supporting rough sleepers, those at risk of sleeping rough, and other non-statutory homeless people of specialist housing to meet the needs of older people and adults with disabilities or mental health problems outside of London. This programme was launched jointly alongside the Platform for Life fund in March 2015.	Aff. Rent	NB/A
Kickstart Housing Delivery	The Kickstart Housing Delivery programme was part of the 2009 Housing Stimulus Programme investing in restarting more than 20,000 homes on stalled sites. The programme closed on 31 March 2013.	Social Rent / Int. Rent / AHO / Market	NB
Local Authority New Build	The Local Authority New Build programme was set up to deliver 4,000 homes for rent by 31 March 2012.	Social Rent	NB
Mortgage Rescue	The Mortgage Rescue scheme was announced as part of the Government’s Spending Review 2010 to provide support to some 2,500 vulnerable home owners struggling to maintain mortgage payments and at risk of repossession. This scheme is now closed.	AHO / Int. Rent	A
National Affordable Housing Programme	The National Affordable Housing Programme is the predecessor to the AHP 2011-15.	Social Rent / Int. Rent / AHO	NB/A
Platform for Life	Homes England is allocating a share of up to £25 million capital funding for specialist housing providers, on behalf of the Department of Health, to bring forward proposals for developing low-rent accommodation for young people aged 18 to 24 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and are in housing need, to support their participation in work, further education or vocational training, with the aim of assisting residents into long term employment and independence, and improving their prospects for a successful and healthy life. This programme was launched jointly alongside the Homelessness Change 2015 to 2017 fund in March 2015.	Aff. Rent	NB/A
Property and Regeneration Programme	The Property and Regeneration programme covered all the historical property and regeneration investments and assets inherited from English Partnerships. With effect from 1 April 2015, existing commitments transferred to the Single Land Programme.	Social Rent / Int. Rent / AHO / Market	NB/A
Rent to Buy	The Rent to Buy Loan 2015-17 provided loans at a low, fixed rate to registered providers to deliver homes outside London. The homes will be let at a sub-market rent for at least 7 years with the intention of supporting working households to save money and achieve their aspiration of home ownership. This programme is now closed.	AHO	NB
Right to Buy Replacement	With effect from 2 April 2012, every additional local authority home sold under Right to Buy will be replaced by a new home for affordable rent, with receipts from sales recycled towards the cost of replacement. Where a local authority decides not to undertake the development themselves, they return the relevant portion of the receipts to MHCLG for re- investment nationally.	Aff. Rent	NB
Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme 2016-21	This programme aims to increase the supply of Shared Ownership and other affordable homes in England by March 2021.	Aff. Rent / Social Rent / AHO (Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy)	NB/A
Short Form Agreement	A Short Form Agreement (SFA) is used by Homes England to contract with providers who wish to deliver Affordable Rent units without Homes England funding.	Aff. Rent	NB/A
Single Land Programme	The Single Land Programme, with effect from 1 April 2015, consists of existing commitments taken from the amalgamation of historical Homes England land programmes (Accelerated Land Disposal, Economic Assets and Property and Regeneration) and transferred sites from across Government under the Public Sector Land Transfer model. It is a self- financing programme funded through the recycling of receipts supporting Government’s targets on housing (including starter homes), public sector land release and asset disposals.	Social Rent / Int. Rent / AHO / Market	NB/A
The Home Building Fund – Short Term Fund	The Home Building Fund is government finance to increase the number of new homes being built in England. Applications are being accepted from private sector businesses to build new homes or prepare sites for development.	Social Rent / Int. Rent / AHO / Market	NB/A
Traveller Pitch Funding	The Traveller Pitch Funding programme was announced as part of the Government’s Spending Review 2010 and delivered 515 new traveller pitches by 31 March 2015 (outside London). In addition, 386 refurbished pitches were delivered.	Aff. Rent / AHO	NB/A

Table notes:

• Tenure indicates whether units delivered under each programme are allocated to Affordable Rent (Aff. Rent), Social Rent (Social Rent), Intermediate Rent (Int. Rent), Affordable Home Ownership (AHO), including Shared Ownership and Rent to Buy, or Open Market (Market).
• New supply is either a new build (NB) or an acquisition (A) from existing non-affordable stock. Grant under some programmes can be used to deliver either newly built units or to fund acquisitions.

• The below programmes are part of the Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) 2011-15:

  • Affordable Homes Programme
  • Empty Homes
  • Homelessness Change
  • Mortgage Rescue
  • Short Form Agreement
  • Traveller Pitch Funding
• The majority of delivery through the AHP 2011-15 and other associated programmes will be made available as Affordable Rent with some Affordable Home Ownership and, in some limited circumstances, Social Rent. Intermediate Rent may not be delivered by the AHP 2011-15 unless it is through Mortgage Rescue or pre-existing commitments from the National Affordable Housing Programme.

Annexe 2

Homes England operating areas

• North West
• North East, Yorkshire and the Humber
• Midlands
• South West
• South East

[email protected] 0300 1234 500 [gov.uk/homes-england](

1. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/help-to-buy-equity-loan-and-newbuy-statistics ↩

2. Affordable Tenure TBC refers to units that have reached the start on site milestone but where the tenure of these units has not yet been specified. This was introduced as a flexibility for Strategic Partnerships to enable them to determine tenure close to or at the point of completion. These starts will be restated under their specified tenure headings in future national statistics updates once the tenure has been established at completion. ↩

3. The SOAHP was launched in April 2016. ↩

4. As housing starts on site and completions are recorded by their geographical location, this release may exclude homes located outside London where the funding was allocated to a local authority district within London. ↩

5. The Home Building Fund – Short Term Fund was launched on 3 October 2016 and includes the Builders Finance Fund. ↩

6. See Annex 1 for a summary and links to information about Homes England’s programmes. ↩

7. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/help-to-buy-equity-loan-and-newbuy-statistics ↩

8. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/affordable-housing-supply ↩

9. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homes-england-strategic-plan-201819-to-202223 ↩

10. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-statistics ↩

11. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/affordable-housing-supply ↩ ↩²

12. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homes-england-framework-document ↩

13. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-statistics ↩

14. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-affordable-housing-supply ↩

15. The tables and charts in this and future releases have been restricted to an eight-year rolling profile in order to avoid overcrowding pages with excessively long graphics. For earlier years (going back to 2009-10) please see the accompanying tables and previous releases available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-statistics. ↩

16. Note that proportions do not sum to 100 per cent due to rounding ↩

17. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-statistics ↩

18. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-statistics ↩

19. http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/corporate/pdf/1466387.pdf ↩

20. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-planning-policy-framework–2 ↩

21. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/17/pdfs/ukpga_20080017_en.pdf ↩

22. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/17/pdfs/ukpga_20080017_en.pdf ↩

23. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/affordable-housing-supply ↩ ↩²

24. https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/housing-and-land/increasing-housing-supply/affordable-housing-statistics ↩

25. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications ↩

26. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/help-to-buy-equity-loan-and-newbuy-statistics ↩

27. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-statistics ↩