Social housing lettings in England, tenants: April 2023 to March 2024

Question 1

1. In this release:

Accepted Answer

There were 1.33 million households on local authority housing registers (commonly known as waiting lists) at 31 March 2024, an increase of 3% compared to 31 March 2023 and the highest it has been since 2014.
492,000 people in 261,000 households received a new social letting in 2023/24 - up from the 468,000 people in 252,000 households who received a letting in 2022/23.
Households new to the social sector comprised 64% of new lets in 2023/24, down from 67% in 2022/23. These households were living in the private sector, their own home, temporary accommodation or sleeping rough immediately prior.
59% of households with a new social letting in 2023/24 who were new to the social sector were on the housing register in that area for less than a year.
27% of new social lettings in 2023/24 were to statutorily homeless households, up from 23% in 2022/23. Households living in temporary accommodation immediately prior to their new letting comprised 14% of new lets, compared to 15% in 2022/23.
Most lead tenants of households with a new social letting in 2023/24 were UK nationals (87%, or 228,000 lead tenants). European nationals comprised 4% of lead tenants (10,000) with the remaining 9% from nations outside the European Economic Area (EEA)(23,000).
38% of lead tenants in households in a new General Needs letting were employed in 2023/24 – a decrease from 40% in 2022/23. The remainder include tenants who are unemployed, retired, those unable to work due illness and those not seeking work.
On average, households in a new General Needs let spent 31% of their income on rent in 2023/24, which is the same as in 2022/23.
44% of households with a new letting in 2023/24 included at least one person who had a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last for 12 months or more, similar to the 42% in 2022/23.

Question 2

2. Introduction

Accepted Answer

This series is about new social housing lettings in England in 2023/24 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 housing registers, 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.

The statistics presented here are based on data submitted by social housing providers via the CORE data collection, with appropriate methodology applied to take account of missing data. For more detail about quality and methodology see the “Technical notes” available from the same landing page.

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 housing register (also known as a “waiting list”) as there are more people applying for social housing than properties available. In 2023/24, 16% of households in England lived in social housing^{[footnote 1]}.

New social housing lettings comprise a small part of the whole social rental sector as only 6% of the 4.3 million social properties were let during 2023/24^{[footnote 2]}.

Question 3

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

Accepted Answer

The 261,000 households with a new social housing letting in 2023/24 equated to approximately 492,000 people – roughly 1 in 116 people in England^{[footnote 3]}. This is an increase of 25,000 people (5%) from the previous year (2022/23).

This year’s increase should be considered within the wider context of a steady decline since the most recent peak in new social lettings in 2013/14. Since this peak the number of tenants getting new social housing lettings has decreased by 267,000 (35%). Since 2021/22 the number of lettings has remained relatively stable following a period of steady decline from 2013/14, with a particular drop in 2020/21 due to the Covid-19 restrictions in the social sector.

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.

Figure 1: The number of people in new social housing lettings, 2007/08 - 2023/24

Definition: Needs type


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.

Definition: Rent types


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 4]}).
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 (62%) of tenants with new social lettings in 2023/24 moved into General Needs lettings on a Social Rent basis. The remainder are mainly shared between Social Rent Supported Housing (15% in 2023/24) and, since 2011/12 when Affordable Rent was introduced, Affordable Rent General Needs properties (21% in 2023/24).

For more detail about the changes in rent types and needs types in new lettings, please see the separate “Tenancies” report available from the same landing page as this report.

Figure 2: Percentage of new social lettings by rent and needs type, 2007/08 - 2023/24

Question 4

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

Accepted Answer

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

For households starting a new social tenancy in 2023/24, 36% were existing social tenants renewing or transferring within the sector which was an increase from 33% in 2022/23. The remaining 64% of households in 2023/24 entered from outside the sector.

The 36% of households already living in the social sector comprised 31% who moved within the sector (between properties, landlords or location) and 5% who renewed their fixed term tenancy in the same property in which they were living before.

The most common previous tenures before this new social letting varied by needs type, with households coming into Supported Housing having a greater spread across the routes. For General Needs lettings the most common previous tenure was a General Needs social tenancy (33% of new lettings in 2023/24) whereas for Supported Housing it was other unspecified previous tenures (22% of new lettings in 2023/24).

Why did tenants leave their last settled home?

The top three 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 three reasons why the lead tenant in new social housing lettings left their last settled home by needs type, 2023/24

Rank	General Needs	Supported Housing
1	Property unsuitable because of overcrowding (13%)	To move to accommodation with support (22%)
2	To move to independent accommodation (13%)	Property unsuitable because of ill health or disability (13%)
3	Asked to leave by family or friends (11%)	Asked to leave by family or friends (13%)

Domestic Abuse

Approximately 7% of households left their last settled home due to domestic abuse – 15,000 households. This is the same percentage as the previous year. Of these households, 14,000 were led by women and 8,000 included dependent children.

Of these 15,000 households, 3,600 (1.7% of total lettings) previously had a joint tenancy with their partner.

The percentage of households leaving their last settled home due to domestic abuse has increased steadily from 4.6% in 2013/14, to 7.3% in 2023/24.

Figure 3: Percentage of households leaving their last settled home due to domestic abuse, 2007/08 - 2023/24

Refugees and asylum seekers

Over the last decade, the percentage of new social housing lettings to refugees steadily increased from 0.3% in 2013/14 to 1.2% in 2020/21, followed by a small decrease in 2021/22 (to 0.9%). It has since increased to 2.0% (4,100 households) in 2023/24.

Households living with a host family or in similar refugee accommodation immediately prior to their new social letting comprised 0.3% of new social housing lettings in 2023/24 (900 households). This is the first year this data has been collected.

In 2023/24, 0.4% of households in a new social housing letting were housed by The National Asylum Support Service immediately prior to their letting (1,000 households). This is a slight increase from 0.3% (or 700 households) in 2022/23.

Care should be taken when considering new social lettings to refugees and asylum seekers. CORE data is based on specific definitions and there may be overlaps and households missing from the statistics presented above.

“Refugee” is based on the lead tenant’s self-reported main reason for leaving their last settled home, whereas “living with host family or similar refugee accommodation” or “housed by The National Asylum Support Service” is based on where the household was living the night before their new letting.

Care leavers

Care leavers made up 0.5% of new social housing lettings in 2023/24 (1,400 households). This is unchanged from 2022/23. These are households who were in a children’s home or foster care immediately prior to their letting.

Evictions

Eviction on a ‘no fault’ basis was the primary self-reported reason for leaving their last settled home for 10% of households in a new social letting (21,000 households), an increase from 9% in 2022/23 (19,000 households) and the highest this value has been since ‘no fault’ evictions were added as specific a reason category in 2017/18.

‘No fault’ eviction from the household’s last settled home varies by previous tenure, accounting for 23% of households from the private sector, compared to 8% from the social sector.

4.1 Homelessness

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

There were 37,000 households in temporary accommodation (defined as hostels, bed and breakfasts, hospitals, prisons and any other unspecified temporary accommodation) immediately prior to their new social housing letting (14% of new lettings in 2023/24), another 5,000 households were sleeping rough (2%) and 47,000 households were living with friends and family (18%).

The households that were in temporary accommodation before their letting in 2023/24 consisted of 74,000 people, 25,000 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.

Since last year (2022/23):

There were 500 more households getting a new let after living in temporary accommodation, a rise of 1%.
The proportion of new lets going to households who were in temporary accommodation fell from 15% to 14%.
There were 200 more new lets to households sleeping rough, a rise of 6%, however the proportion of new lets to rough sleepers remained at 2%.

Over the past decade (since 2013/14):

There were 4,000 fewer households moving from temporary accommodation, but this is an increase of 4% in terms of proportion of all new lettings (as the total number of households getting new social lettings fell by 135,000).
There were 4,000 fewer households entering social housing following a period of rough sleeping, a slight decrease of 0.3% 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 12% 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.

Just over a quarter (27%) of new lettings in 2023/24 were to households deemed to be “statutorily homeless” (70,000 households), up from 23% in 2022/23 (59,000 households).

The proportion of new lettings to statutorily homeless households has been steadily increasing since 2018/19 despite a dip in 2021/22 primarily due to Covid-19 related eviction bans.

The percentage of new lettings to statutorily homeless households increased in 2023/24, continuing the upward trend since 2021/22

Figure 4: Percentage of households deemed statutorily homeless prior to letting, 2007/08 - 2023/24

4.2 Reasonable Preference

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 4]} 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

Over half (53%) of new social lettings were to households given priority by a local authority (note that whether priority was given was unknown in 31% of new lettings so this could be higher). The number of households getting new social lettings who had been given priority has steadily risen from a third (34%) in 2014/15 to over half (53%) in 2023/24, the highest it has been since Reasonable Preference was introduced in 2012/13.

55% of new General Needs lets in 2023/24 that were made under at least one Reasonable Preference category, compared to 47% of new Supported Housing lets. Both of these are increases on the previous year (from 51% and 45% respectively).

Households can be granted Reasonable Preference in multiple categories. The most common reason in 2023/24 for both needs types was homelessness (or threat of homelessness), making up a quarter (25%) of all new lettings, where Reasonable Preference status was known.

Over half of new General Needs lettings in 2023/24 were granted “Reasonable Preference” with homelessness being the most common reason

Figure 5: Percentage of households granted Reasonable Preference and specific Reasonable Preference categories, 2023/24

Question 5

5. Housing registers (waiting lists)

Accepted Answer

How many households are on housing registers?

There were 1.33 million households on local authority housing registers (commonly known as waiting lists) at 31 March 2024. This represents an increase of 43,000 households (3%) compared to 31 March 2023. This is the highest number of households on housing registers since 2014.

Local authority housing register size can be affected by different 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 housing registers is likely to overstate the number of households who still require housing. If a household is on a housing register 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 housing register, for example the introduction of a local connections test. This change may be partially responsible for the decrease in the number of households on housing registers between 2012 and 2020

^{[footnote 5]}.

The number of households on housing registers has been steadily increasing from 1.2 million since 2017 after falling from a peak of 1.9 million in 2012

Figure 6: Number of households on local authorities’ housing registers, 1986/87 - 2023/24

How long were households on the housing register for their local authority area before getting a new let?

59% of households who were new to the social housing sector in 2023/24 were on the housing register for less than a year in that local authority area before they got their letting. 8% of households were on the housing register 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 housing register for less than a year than for General Needs (75% compared to 54%), and less likely to be waiting 5 years or more (5% compared to 8%).

Households with a new Supported Housing let in 2023/24 generally spent less time on the housing register before their new letting

Figure 7: Percentages of new social lettings by the time they spent on the housing register and needs type, 2023/24

Information on how long a household has spent on the housing register was first collected in 2018/19. Since then the percentage of households new to the sector who were on the housing register for less than a year has remained broadly constant. There has been a decrease in households waiting more than 5 years, from 14% to 8% over the same time period.

Figure 8: Percentages of new social lettings by the time they spent on a housing register, 2018/19 - 2023/24

Is there a link between the type of household and how long they spend on the housing register before getting a letting?

The time spent on the housing register for those new to the social sector varies by household composition. Over two-thirds (69%) of households composed of a sole occupant aged 66 years or more spent less than a year on the housing register before starting a new let. In contrast, under half (48%) of households comprising a couple with at least one dependent child spent less than a year on the housing register.

Do households given Reasonable Preference spend less time on the housing register?

Of the 1.33 million households on housing registers on 31 March 2024, 612,000 had been granted Reasonable Preference in at least one category (46%)^{[footnote 6]}. The most common Reasonable Preference category for households on housing registers was “insanitary, unsatisfactory or overcrowded conditions” which was given to 22% of those on housing registers. This differs to new lettings where the most common Reasonable Preference category is homelessness and “insanitary, unsatisfactory or overcrowded conditions” is one of the least common categories.

Of households that were new to the social sector and were granted Reasonable Preference, 60% were on the housing register for less than a year and 7% for more than 5 years. This is almost the same for households who were not granted Reasonable Preference (58% and 8% respectively).

The same pattern is evident when including households already living in the social sector, i.e. households with Reasonable Preference were on the housing register 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 housing register, for example if circumstances change such as being threatened with homelessness.

5.1 Local connection and residency tests

What is a local connection or residency test?

Under the Localism Act 2011, local authorities are able to set local connection or residency tests to prioritise people living in the local area when allocating social housing. They have to do this within the national framework of priorities, such as Reasonable Preference.

A local connection test is where the applicant (lead tenant) must have a connection to the local area for a certain number of years^{[footnote 7]}. The local authority can decide what counts as a “local connection”. Some examples include living in the area, having family who live there, children going to school in their area or having a job in the area. The local authority can also decide how long the “local connection” must be.

A residency test is where the applicant (lead tenant) must have lived in the local area for a certain number of years. The local authority can decide how many years.

If the applicant passes the local connection or residency test, they are moved up the priority list. If they do not pass the test, they may still be granted priority for another reason, such as one of the Reasonable Preference categories. If a household is not granted priority they may still get a social property.

Members and former members of the UK Armed Forces community are exempt from local connection and residency tests as the nature of their service means they are less likely to build up sufficient connection or residency to the area in which they later want to settle.

Who uses these tests?

31% of local authorities used only a local connection test as at 31 March 2024 (92 LAs), 13% used only a residency test (37 LAs), 45% used both tests (134 LAs) and 11% did not use either test (33 LAs)^{[footnote 6]}.

Figure 9: Percentages of local authorities by type of local connection or residency test they use, 2023/24

Of the 171 LAs that used a residency test, 88 had a test of 1-2 years, 39 had a test of 3-4 years and 36 had a test of 5 years or more. There were no LAs with a residency test of longer than 10 years. 8 local authorities with a residency connection test did not say how long these tests were^{[footnote 6]}.

No data is collected on the length of local connection tests.

How long have tenants lived in the area of their new letting?

Across all new lets, 21% of households have continuously lived in the area of their new social letting for less than 2 years prior, 9% lived there for more than 2 years but less than 5 and 70% have lived there for 5 or more years.

How do local connection and residency tests impact on new lettings?

33% of new lettings in 2023/24 were in areas that use only a local connection test (81,000 lets), 13% were in areas that use only a residency test (33,000 lets), 38% were in areas that use both tests (94,000 lets) and 16% were in areas that don’t use either test (39,000 lets).

For new social lettings in areas that had a residency test of known length and where we know how long the household had lived in the LA prior to their new let, less than half (43%) were to households who met the test, i.e. who had been living in the local area for at least as long as the test the required. This is around 14,000 households out of 33,000.

In those areas, the other 57% of new lets were to households who had not been living in the area for a minimum length specified by the residency test (19,000 households). These households may have been given priority for another reason, they may have been exempt from the test, or they may have been allocated a letting after higher priority households had been housed.

We cannot do the same analysis for local connection tests as we do not have data on the length of that type of test.

Question 6

6. Who lives in new social housing lettings?

Accepted Answer

6.1 Household composition

There were 80% of new lettings to single adult led households (58% without children^{[footnote 8]}, 22% with children). This has changed little over the last decade. Of the single parents getting a new social letting, 92% were women and 8% men. Over a third of all new lettings contained at least one child (34%), while 14% contained a couple.

Figure 10: Percentages of new social lettings by their household composition, 2007/08 - 2023/24

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 2023/24, almost half (48%) of new Social Rent Supported Housing lettings by LAs were to older people (those aged 66 years or older) compared to 26% in PRPs, whereas 68% let by PRPs were to single adults compared to 43% of LAs.

A far greater proportion of households in new General Needs lettings contain children – 41% of new Social Rent lettings included at least one child, and 57% for Affordable Rent. For new Supported Housing lettings in 2023/24 just 6% of Social Rent and 5% of Affordable Rent included at least one child.

Single male aged under 66 was the most common household composition for new Supported Housing lets in 2023/24 compared to Single female with child(ren) for General Needs

Figure 11: Percentages of new social lettings by their household composition and needs types, 2023/24

6.2 Age and gender

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 under 16 years old comprised around a third of people (33%) in new General Needs lettings in 2023/24.
Under-35s were over-represented in new General Needs lets, at just under two-thirds (64%) of tenants, compared to 43% of the population of England^{[footnote 9]}.
73% 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, who are more likely to be single mothers.

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

30% of new Supported Housing lettings were to households with a lead tenant aged 65 or over in 2023/24.
Of lead tenants aged 25 to 64 years in new Supported Housing lettings, 59% were male.

Of lead tenants in new social housing lettings in 2023/24, 0.1% identified as non-binary.

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

Figure 12: Percentages of people in new social lettings by age, gender and needs type compared to the general population, 2023/24

New lettings to lead tenants aged 16 to 24 years fell from 23% to 15% in the decade up to 2023/24. In comparison, in the population the percentage of lead tenants in that age bracket only slightly dropped from 4%^{[footnote 10]} to 3%^{[footnote 11]}.

Figure 13: Percentages of new lettings by age of lead tenant and needs type, 2007/08 - 2023/24

New social lettings to female lead tenants have increased for General Needs (from 60% to 64%) but have remained consistent for Supported Housing (from 45% to 46%) between 2013/14 and 2023/24.

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 just under half (48%) of lead tenants were aged 55 and over, whilst around a sixth (16%) were aged 16 to 35 years^{[footnote 11]}.
In new social lettings these figures are almost reversed, with only 26% of lead tenants aged 55 and over, and 43% 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 12 years – compared to the average of 5 years for private renters ^{[footnote 12]}.

6.3 Ethnicity

The majority of lead tenants in 2023/24 were in the White ethnic group, comprising 80% of new lettings. This is similar to the general population in England^{[footnote 13]} 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 6% 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, both making up 3%, and similar to the proportions in England. Additional statistics on ethnicity and new social lettings can be found on the Ethnicity Facts and Figures gov.uk pages^{[footnote 14]}.

The distribution of ethnic groups of lead tenants has remained roughly stable over the last 14 years

Figure 14: Percentages of households in new social lettings by ethnic group of lead tenant (excluding White), 2007/08 - 2023/24

6.4 Nationality

Most lead tenants of households with a new social letting in 2023/24 were UK nationals (87%, or 228,000 lead tenants). European nationals comprised 4% of lead tenants (10,000) with the remaining 9% from nations outside the European Economic Area (EEA) (23,000).

The percentage of UK national lead tenants in new social lets is slightly lower than the percentage of UK nationals in the English population (87% compared to 91%)^{[footnote 15]}. The percentage of European national lead tenants is also lower in new lets compared to the English population (4% compared to 7%). However, there is a higher percentage of lead tenant nationals from outside of Europe in new lets compared to the English population (9% compared to 3%).

Ukrainian nationals comprised 0.6% of lead tenants of households in new social lettings in England in 2023/24 (1,400), and Afghan nationals comprised 0.4% (900). Of the lead tenants from Ukraine, 65% said their last settled home was in their home country which they left as a refugee, and for lead tenants from Afghanistan this was 42%.

The proportion of new social lettings to households led by an EEA national increased from 2% to 4% between 2007/08 and 2013/14 and has remained stable since. However, as the total number of new lets has decreased since 2013/14, the number of households led by an EEA national has decreased from 18,000 in 2013/14 to 10,000 in 2023/24.

The proportion of households in a new let led by a tenant whose nationality is from outside the EEA was around 3 to 4% from 2007/08 to 2020/21, then rose to 9% by 2023/24. This is an increase from 10,000 non-EEA led households in 2020/21 to 23,000 in 2023/24 (a 140% rise).

Figure 15: Percentages of households in new social lettings by grouped nationality of lead tenant (excluding UK nationals), 2007/08 - 2023/24

6.5 Economic status

Almost a third (30%) of lead tenants in new social housing lettings in 2023/24 were in employment, a decrease from 32% in 2022/23. This remains the most common economic status. The second most common economic status was not seeking work, for example carers, comprising just under a quarter (23%) of lead tenants in new social housing lettings in 2023/24. This is the same as the previous year. 18% 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. 13% of lead tenants were unemployed and seeking work.

The economic status of tenants differed 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 (7%, compared to 38% for General Needs). Supported Housing has a substantially larger proportion of retired lead tenants (29%, compared to 7% for General Needs).

Over five times as many lead tenants in new General Needs tenancies in 2023/24 were employed, compared to Supported Housing

Figure 16: Percentages of households in new social lettings by economic status of lead tenant and needs type, 2023/24

In new General Needs new lettings, the proportion of lead tenants who were employed rose from 30% in 2012/13 to 40% in 2019/20. After a fall during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent rebound, employment in new lets was 38% in 2023/24.

Employment of lead tenants in new General Needs lets dropped slightly in 2023/24, following a rise since 2020/21

Figure 17: Percentages of households in new General Needs lettings by economic status of lead tenant, 2007/08 - 2023/24

In new Supported Housing lettings, the proportion of lead tenants who were unemployed and seeking work has remained at 15% from 2022/23 to 2023/24 while those not seeking work has increased slightly from 22% to 23%.

The other economic statuses of lead tenants have remained similar to the previous year; 7% employed, 22% unable to work due to sickness and 29% retired.

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

Figure 18: Percentages of households in new Supported Housing lettings by economic status of lead tenant, 2007/08 - 2023/24

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 19: Percentage of lead tenants in new General Needs lettings in employment by English region, 2023/24

The percentage of lead tenants in new General Needs lettings in employment was higher in the South of England than the North. London was the region with the highest percentage of lead tenants in new General Needs lettings in employment (45%) and Yorkshire and The Humber was the region with the lowest percentage (33%).

Compared to the social housing sector as a whole, lead tenants in new social lettings made in 2023/24 were less likely to be employed and more likely to be unemployed. In new lets, 30% of lead tenants were employed compared to 41% in the whole social sector^{[footnote 11]} . In contrast 13% were unemployed in new lets compared to 2% 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 27%). This is likely to be explained by the use of lifetime tenancies, meaning the age profile of the social sector as a whole is older than for new lets.

The employment rate of lead tenants of working age (16 to 64 years) in new social lettings was far below that of the general population (34% compared to 75% in March 2024^{[footnote 16]}).

6.6 Vulnerable groups

What about people with disabilities or long-term illnesses?

44% of households (93,000) with a new letting in 2023/24 included at least one person who had a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last for 12 months or more. This is slightly higher in the previous two years (42% and 43% respectively).

Since Supported Housing is intended for people with support needs, the prevalence of long-term illness or disabilities was higher in Supported Housing than in General Needs (60% compared to 39%). However, as far more households are placed in General Needs accommodation than Supported Housing, the majority of households with a long-term illness or disability were in General Needs accommodation (63,000 compared to 30,000).

Mental health was the most common long-term illness amongst households with a new social let in 2023/24, at 24% of households (50,000). Mobility was the second most common, reported by 17% of households (35,000). All other types of illness were reported in less than 10% of households.

Supported Housing and General Needs followed the same pattern in types of illness. The only exception was in social or behavioural conditions which were marginally more prevalent in General Needs than in Supported Housing.

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

Figure 20: Percentages of households with long-term illnesses and specific categories of illness by needs type, 2023/24

What are the impacts for tenants with long-term illnesses or disabilities?

In 2023/24, 18% of households included a tenant with a long-term illness or disability which prevented them from working. This is a slight increase from 16% in 2022/23, following a fall from 18% in 2016/17.

16% 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), a decrease from 20% in 2022/23 after a steady rise from 14% in 2009/10.

More households in Supported Housing had specific disability-related housing needs than those in General Needs – 25% of Supported Housing new lets compared to 14% 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 2022/23 this breakdown is a decrease from 31% of Supported Housing new lets and a decrease from 17% of General Needs new lets.

What about veterans and members of the Armed Forces?

There were 2,200 households on housing registers on 31 March 2024 which included a member of the UK Armed Forces community^{[footnote 6]}.

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.

3,100 households given a new social housing letting in 2023/24 included someone who has served in the Armed Forces. This represents approximately 1% of total lettings, which is the same as the previous year. This percentage has been slowly falling year on year since 2015/16 where it was 3%. This year’s value is lower than the 7% of households in England containing an active member or veteran, from the 2021 Census^{[footnote 17]}.

Of the 3,100 households with a new social let, 2,700 included a member who had served in the regular Armed Forces and 400 included 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 (18%) than veterans who left 5 or more years ago (12%) and the civilian population (9%) in 2023/24. This continues the trend since 2015/16 when this data was first collected.

6.7 What type of households are on housing registers (waiting lists) and how does this compare to households getting a new letting?

Voluntary questions on the demographic details of those on housing registers (waiting lists) were introduced for the first time in the 2023/24 Local Authority Housing Statistics (LAHS) return. Only some local authorities provided information, so the proportions given below may not be representative of all households on housing registers.

For each of these questions, between 18% and 44% of local authorities provided complete information. This represents between 10% and 36% of households on housing registers. A detailed assessment of the coverage and quality of this data will be published in the LAHS technical notes in January/February 2025.

For local authorities who provided complete information on the characteristics of households on their housing register at 31 March 2024:

46% of households on a housing register included under 18’s compared to 33% of households in those local authorities who received a new letting.
2% of households on a housing register had a lead tenant subject to immigration control. Equivalent information is not collected in CORE for new lets.
1% of households on a housing register included a care leaver compared to 1% of households receiving a new letting in the same local authorities.
86% of households on a housing register had a UK national lead applicant, 7% had a national from the EEA (including Ireland) and 7% from outside the EEA. This compares to 88%, 3% and 8% of lead tenants in households receiving a new letting in the same local authorities.
5% of households were on a housing register because their existing homes did not meet their accessibility needs. Equivalent information is not collected in CORE for new lets.

This data should not be used to estimate the number of households on housing registers in England with particular characteristics, due to the partial response rate and insufficient coverage of these new voluntary questions.

Question 7

7. What types of property are people getting?

Accepted Answer

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 14]}, 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 two bedrooms, whereas if one of the children was older than 9 years then the household would be assigned 3 bedrooms.

For new lettings in 2023/24 the average bedroom standard^{[footnote 19]} was 1.5. Over the last decade this figure has remained constant.

The average bedroom standard differed by needs types - for new General Needs lettings in 2023/24 it was 1.7, 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 (see earlier section on household composition).

For Supported Housing there are allowances within the bedroom standard for scenarios where an extra room is needed due to medical conditions, for example to store medical equipment. As CORE doesn’t collect information for why other bedrooms may be required, the average bedroom standard for Supported Housing should be regarded an 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 the property is suitably sized.

On average, households in new General Needs lettings in 2023/24 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.

In 2023/24 the proportion of households given a General Needs property that is too small for them according to the bedroom standard varied across the country, with it being highest in London at 6% whereas for the rest of the country it was between 1% and 3%, in line with historic trends.

London was the region with the greatest proportion of new General Needs lets in properties too small for the household in 2023/24, according to the bedroom standard

Figure 21: Percentage of new General Needs lettings that were to households whose property had fewer bedrooms than the bedroom standard recommended for them, 2023/24

16% of new lettings in 2023/24 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, for General Needs we can also check whether the property the household is moving into has been designed or adapted to wheelchair user standards (M4(3) of the 2010 building regulations^{[footnote 20]}). For Supported Housing we can see whether the property has been designed or adapted to either the accessible general standard or wheelchair user standard combined (M4(2) and M4(3) of the 2010 building regulations^{[footnote 20]}).

In 2023/24, 3,300 households said they required fully accessible housing.

Of these households, 1,900 were placed in General Needs accommodation and 65% of these households received housing that had been designed or adapted to wheelchair user standards, this compares to 67% in 2022/23.

The remaining 1,400 were placed in Supported Housing, and of these 78% received housing that had been designed or adapted to either the accessible general or wheelchair standard. This compares to 84% in 2022/23.

1,300 households said they required wheelchair access to essential rooms.

Of these households, 900 were General Needs and 41% received housing that had been designed or adapted to wheelchair user standards, unchanged from the previous year.

The remaining 500 were placed in Supported Housing, of these 71% received housing that had been designed or adapted to either the accessible general or wheelchair standard. This compares to 77% in 2022/23.

Question 8

8. Income and rent burden

Accepted Answer

8.1 Income and benefits

The median net household income (including pensions and benefits) for households given a new social housing let in 2023/24 was £321 per week, which is an increase of £31 (or 11%) from the previous year.

The median net weekly household income varied by needs type. For General Needs it was £346 per week, while for Supported Housing it was £187, which is just over half (54%) of 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 single-adult households.

There is a much greater spread in income for households in new General Needs lettings compared to new Supported Housing lettings in 2023/24

Figure 22: Distribution of weekly net household incomes for new lettings by needs type, 2023/24

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 £143 to £346 per week (a 142% increase) for new General Needs lettings and from £84 to £187 per week (a 123% increase) for new Supported Housing lettings.

Weekly income of households in new lets have been increasing for both needs types since 2007/08

Figure 23: Weekly net household incomes for new lettings by needs type, 2007/08 - 2023/24

How much of household income comes from benefits?

82% of households in a new social letting in 2023/24 received some form of housing-related benefit – 54% of households received the Universal Credit housing element, 28% received Housing Benefit, and the remaining households didn’t receive either.

Receipt of housing-related benefits varies substantially between needs type. For new General Needs lets 81% of households received a housing-related benefit, compared to 85% of households in new Supported Housing lets. For General Needs 66% of households received the Universal Credit housing element and 15% received Housing Benefit whereas for new Supported Housing lets the benefit type was reversed, with only 21% of households receiving the Universal Credit housing element but 64% receiving Housing 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 households in Supported Housing

Figure 24: Percentage of households in new lettings receiving different housing-related benefits by needs type, 2023/24

Between 2012/13 and 2016/17 the proportion of households receiving a housing-related benefit fell from 83% to 72%, however this has since steadily increased again to the current value (82%). 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 25: Percentage of households in new lettings receiving different housing-related benefits, 2007/08 - 2023/24

Of households who answered whether they received pensions and/or benefits, 56% got their income solely from pensions and benefits, with a further 27% supplementing their earnings with pensions or benefits and the remaining 17% 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 size and compositions differ.

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 eligible service charge (service charge that is eligible for housing benefit or universal credit), not other essentials such as bills and food.

Households in a new General Needs letting spent 31% of their income on rent on average in 2023/24, which is the same as it was in 2022/23.

Households in a new Supported Housing letting, spent 52% of their income on rent on average in 2023/24. This is a decrease compared to 2022/23 when it was 55%. The rent burden for Supported Housing has been slowly decreasing since 2014/15 (despite a small increase in 2019/20).

Rent burden for households in Supported Housing is consistently higher than for those in General Needs. This is likely due to their incomes being lower on average and being charged higher eligible service charges.

Since 2013/14 the average rent burden for households getting new General Needs lettings has remained stable whilst for Supported Housing it has been steadily decreasing

Figure 26: Rent burden for households receiving new social lettings, 2013/14 - 2023/24

How does rent burden vary across the country?

Rent burden for households in new General Needs lets was highest in London with households on average spending 41% of their income on rent in 2023/24. In the rest of England, the lowest average spend of household income on rent was 27%, 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 was the region with the highest rent burden for new General Needs lettings in 2023/24

Figure 27: Rent burden by English region for General Needs lettings, 2023/24

Similarly, for Supported Housing, London was the region with the highest rent burden (70%) however the region with the lowest burden was the East Midlands (37%).

How does rent burden vary between households?

For both needs types, there was a difference in rent burden by age. For new General Needs lettings in 2023/24 households with lead tenants over 65 spent the lowest proportion of their income on rent at 28%, whereas those under 24 years old spent the highest proportion of their income on rent at 38%.

Lead tenants under 24 years old had the highest rent burden for new General Needs lettings in 2023/24

Figure 28: Rent burden by age band of lead tenant for new social lettings, 2023/24

For Supported Housing the pattern was the same with households with lead tenants between 65 to 74 years spending the lowest proportion of their income on rent at 36%, whereas those under 24 years old spending the highest proportion of their income on rent at 78%.

Full details of the rent burden methodology can be found in the Technical Notes, which is available from the same landing page as this report.

Question 9

9. Summary tables and technical notes

Accepted Answer

Tables providing summary statistics accompanying this release are available.

An interactive subnational data explorer is available from the same landing page as this release.

The Technical notes gives more information on data collection and quality, definitions, statistical processes and related statistics.

Question 10

10. Enquiries

Accepted Answer

Media enquiries: 0303 444 1209 newsdesk@communities.gov.uk

Public enquiries and responsible statistician: Rachel Worledge

Email: CORE@communities.gov.uk

Question 11

11. Footnotes

Accepted Answer

English Housing Survey 2023 to 2024,Annex tables for English Housing Survey 2023 to 2024 headline findings on demographics and household resilience, Chapter 1: Profile of households and dwellings annex tables, AT1_1. ↩
Sum of a1a from LAHS open data for local authorities and Regulator for Social Housing’s Statistical Data Return (additional tables, Table 1.1) for private registered providers.. ↩
Population and household estimates, England and Wales: Census 2021, unrounded data. ↩
The charter for social housing residents: social housing white paper. ↩ ↩²
Local authority housing statistics. ↩
Local authority housing statistics data returns for 2022 to 2023, Local authority housing statistics data returns for 2022 to 2023, section C. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴
Social housing allocations guidance. ↩
As of this year, the number of children in the household is calculated as the number of dependent children. A dependent child is defined as a person aged 0 to 15 years or a person aged 16 to 18 years in full-time education. This does not include any person aged 16 to 18 years who is living with their partner. ↩
Census 2021 Age by single year. ↩
English housing survey headline report 2012 to 2013: tables, T1. ↩
English Housing Survey 2023 to 2024,Annex tables for English Housing Survey 2023 to 2024 headline findings on demographics and household resilience, Chapter 1: Profile of households and dwellings annex tables, AT1_3. ↩ ↩² ↩³
English Housing Survey 2023 to 2024,Annex tables for English Housing Survey 2023 to 2024 headline findings on demographics and household resilience, Chapter 3: Housing history and future housing annex tables, AT3_6. ↩
Ethnic group, England and Wales: Census 2021. ↩
Ethnicity facts and figures, Social housing lettings. ↩ ↩²
Census 2021, Main passport held by household reference person, England. Nationality of those without a passport has been assumed to be UK. ↩
LFS: Employment rate: England: Aged 16-64: All: %: SA. ↩
UK armed forces veterans, England and Wales: Census 2021. ↩
For years where self-reported gender as opposed to biological sex were collected the bedroom standard has been calculated using self-reported gender. When calculating the bedroom standard for these years where sex is involved in room sharing (for example adolescents sharing a room) those identifying as non-binary are only assumed to share a room with another household member identifying as non-binary. ↩
Access to and use of buildings: Approved Document M. ↩ ↩²

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