Affordable housing and housebuilding

Summary

Housing policy is devolved across the United Kingdom, and different policy approaches have been taken by each country to try and meet the housing needs of their individual populations. These differences are typically reflected in the statistics and data produced by each UK nation, but impact comparability between them.

Scotland

The Scottish Government publishes statistics on housing stock and new housebuilding, including on affordable housing supply, in its quarterly Housing Statistics and in the annual housing statistics key trends report.

These statistics are used to inform progress against the Scottish Government affordable housing delivery target to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, of which at least 70% should be for social rent and 10% in rural and island communities. The latest quarterly statistics report the most recent progress against these targets.

Wales

The Welsh Government publishes statistics on new house building, estimates of the number of dwellings in Wales, social housing stock and rents data, and an Affordable Housing Provision in Wales annual release.

More specifically, there is a clear demand for timely, reliable information on the amount of affordable housing in Wales. As highlighted in the Welsh Government Chief statisticians blog from November 2025, different definitions of affordable housing are being used for different purposes.

England

Statistics on housing supply and affordable housing in England are published by the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). MHCLG publishes statistics on affordable housing supply and losses, net additional dwellings (its most comprehensive measure of housing supply), indicators of new supply; and statistics from the English Housing Survey. MHCLG also publishes a Guide to MHCLG Housing statistics.

The Greater London Authority (GLA), which voluntarily applies the Code of Practice for Statistics, also publishes statistics on affordable housing starts and completions for London, which are included in MHCLG’s annual affordable housing supply statistics.

The Valuation Office Agency publishes estimates of the stock of properties by Council Tax band and property attributes in England and Wales.

Northern Ireland

The Valuation Office Agency publishes estimates of the stock of properties by Council Tax band and property attributes in England and Wales.

United Kingdom

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also publishes time series data on starts and completions of new build dwellings in the UK and local authorities using the data published by each of the four UK countries. As it collates the data for each country and publishes for financial years, it isn’t necessarily the most recent published data for those countries that publish quarterly. ONS also publishes statistics on housing affordability.

Things to consider

Affordable housing

As housing policy is devolved, the definitions of affordable housing and associated terminology differ between the four countries of the UK, meaning that the data cannot be easily compared. Each part of the UK has developed a range of housing products aimed at households who cannot access or afford market housing, some of which are known under the banner of ‘affordable housing’. This includes both rental and ownership schemes. However, there is no agreed statutory definition of affordable housing. The National Planning Policy Framework, Annex 2 does provide a planning definition of affordable housing for England.

‘Affordable housing’ is not the same as the ‘affordability of housing’, which describes the affordability of housing costs in relation to household incomes or resources. Therefore, statistics on affordable housing and affordability of housing also differ since they measure different concepts.

As highlighted in the Welsh Government Chief statisticians blog from November 2025, different definitions of affordable housing are being used for different purposes. In the Welsh Government’s latest affordable housing provision statistics, two main definitions are used.

The TAN2 definition is a Planning definition and the long-term standard for official statistics. This definition is broad, covering all additional affordable housing units delivered – whether through new build, purchase, or conversion. It’s designed to provide a comprehensive, consistent picture of affordable housing provision across Wales.

The second is the target definition used to measure progress against the Welsh Government’s commitment to deliver 20,000 new low-carbon homes for rent in the social sector by May 2026. This is narrower: it focuses specifically on homes for social rent, intermediate rent, and shared ownership delivered by registered social landlords, local authorities, and some private providers. It excludes shared equity units but includes certain properties brought back into use with government funding (known as “long-term voids”).

Management information, collected throughout the year to monitor delivery associated with government-funded housing projects, provides a reasonable indication of the eventual affordable housing official statistics. Differences between the management information and the official statistics in terms of definition, scope and quality are explained to users within Welsh Government’s latest affordable housing provision statistics.

House Building

When talking about housebuilding, it is essential to use the right definitions – especially regarding house building ‘starts’ and ‘completions.’

Trends in ‘building control starts’ are often quoted on their own, as starts are the early indicator of future building completions and that may be sufficient for the context they are used. But there are limitations as a building can be started but not be completed for years, or even not at all. Where official figures on starts and completions are published together and used in public debate for a given period, it is helpful for both to be quoted together to provide broader context.

There are two different metrics for new build ‘completions’ in England – ‘building control completions’ and the ‘net additions new build component’. MHCLG’s quarterly building control completions data for England are known to be an undercount compared to the new build component of its annual net additional dwellings series (its most comprehensive measure of housing supply). The net additional dwellings series is published separately from the building control starts/completions series and does not include starts. Net additional dwellings is therefore a more definitive (though less timely) measure of house building completions than the building control series. It is also the measure being used to monitor the UK Government’s progress towards its target of building 1.5 million homes in England during this parliament.

What to look out for

The differences in housing policy across the United Kingdom create distinct barriers for making equivalent comparisons between countries in many areas.

Assessing government records on housebuilding over specific periods is challenging. Because housing developments take considerable time to pass through planning, construction, and completion, the early years of any administration will inevitably reflect decisions made by its predecessor. This built‑in time lag makes it difficult to measure the performance of governments or politicians accurately, and it can be misleading to attribute full responsibility for the number of homes started or completed at the beginning of a political term.

Across the UK, the terms ‘affordable housing’ and ‘social housing’ are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings that vary between nations. Across the UK, ‘affordable housing’ is a broad policy category that includes ‘social rent’, ‘affordable’ or ‘intermediate’ rent, and various forms of low-cost home ownership.

‘Social housing’ generally refers to homes provided by local authorities or housing associations at below market rents, typically with some form of public subsidy. Within social housing, the lowest-cost rental product is ‘social rent’, though its precise definition differs: in England it is set using a national rent formula; in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, social rent is regulated but not tied to the English formula.

‘Council housing’ refers to social housing owned by local authorities, though many English and Welsh councils transferred large parts of their stock to housing associations. Alongside social rent, all UK nations also provide forms of midmarket, ‘intermediate’, or ‘affordable rent’. In England, affordable rent can be set at up to 80% of market levels; in Scotland and Wales, intermediate or midmarket rents are also below market but operate under different national frameworks; in Northern Ireland, housing associations can offer similar regulated products.

Because each nation applies its own definitions and schemes, and because affordable rent is typically higher than social rent, the overlap between these categories often leads to public confusion about what counts as affordable or social housing in official statistics.

Wider support

Other support available from the Government Statistical Service (GSS) and Analysis Function includes:

The Government Statistical Service (GSS) published a report on Affordable Housing Statistics in the UK. To complement this report, the GSS Strategy Delivery team also produced an affordable housing analytical article exploring the similarities and differences in affordable housing across the UK.

The House of Commons Library has published briefings on Tackling the under-supply of housing in England and What is affordable housing?

The Chartered Institute for Housing also publishes the annual UK Housing Review compendium, which is widely used in the housing sector.

The UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence Data Navigator is also recognised as an alternative data source for non-official statistics.

OSR’s Two-year update: Public Value of Statistics on Housing and Planning in the UK shares the progress made since OSR’s Systemic Review exploring the Public value of Statistics on Housing and Planning in the UK.

OSR’s Public value of Statistics on Housing and Planning in the UK presents findings from OSR’s Systemic Review exploring the Public value of Statistics on Housing and Planning in the UK. Our review informed our understanding of how these statistics met the needs of users and how they could be improved.