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House building and additional dwellings – 40 years a growing!

Updated: Apr 2

Data from official statistics shows how many dwellings by tenure, have been built between 1981 and 2021. Completions of permanent dwellings totalled 72,500 over the period. Of these, 11,000 consisted of social housing, 15.2% of the total. 

Period

Private Enterprise

Housing Associations

Local Authority

All Social housing

All

81-90

18300

400

3300

3700

22000

91-00

12600

2000

500

2600

15200

01-10

16200

2400

0

2400

18600

11-20

15600

2200

200

2400

16800

No

62800

7000

4100

11000

72500

%

86.6

9.7

5.7

15.2

100.0

[Source: Table 253  Housebuilding: permanent dwellings started and completed, by tenure and district].
 
Looking at the change up to 2023, gives a total of 11,600 social dwellings built. This compares to a loss of 10,800 through Right to Buy sales, resulting in a gain of 800 dwellings. 

Is social housing affordable?
There is a degree of confusion regarding the affordability of social housing. Various changes in social housing provision have resulted in different types of social rent tenure as set out below.

Type or tenure

Description

Social rent

These properties are provided by local authorities and some registered providers. The rent for these properties will be set at a level dictated by the national rent regime. Social rented properties are the most affordable being approximately 55% of private rents. 

These properties are let in line with the allocations policy.

Affordable rent

These properties are provided by local authorities and registered providers and are subject to a control that requires the level to be no more than 80% of local market rent. 

Affordable rent properties are let in the same way as social rented properties but can also be provided by Community Led Housing organisations.


Recent analysis of the data indicates that a very small share of new social housing is actually provided for social rent.
"There are a variety of tenures, including social rent, affordable rent, intermediate rent, affordable homeownership, and shared ownership. Of these, affordable rent, shared ownership and social rent houses are the most commonly built, comprising 45.5%, 32.8% and 11.4% respectively of completions in 2020 – 21."
[Hill, S, 2022, Reversing the decline of social housing, New Economics Foundation]

It should be noted that Table 253 does not provide a full picture of the number of additional dwellings over the period. Using the net additions figures plus estimates derived from changes in household spaces from the census, indicates an additional 30,600 properties were added to Cornwall’s housing stock. This implies that a total of 103,100 dwellings were provided over the 40 year period, of which ‘other provision’ accounted for 29.7%. Net additions consist of permanent dwellings plus conversions, other additions minus demolitions. The total for other provision is shown below. 

Period

Other provision

81-90

5700

91-00

7400

01-10

7300

11-20

10300

Total

30600

[Source: Table 122, Net additional dwellings by local authority district].
 
Sources
Table 122, Net additional dwellings by local authority district.
Table 123  Net additions component flows by local authority district,
able 253  Housebuilding: permanent dwellings started and completed, by tenure and district.
Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, (DLUHC).formerly the Department for Communities and  Local Government Communities (DCLG).


Hill, S, 2022, Reversing the decline of social housing, New Economics Foundation.

ONS/NOMIS, Census 1991, Census 2001. Household spaces.


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