Social housing lettings in England, tenants: April 2022 to March 2023

Question 1

1. In this release:

Accepted Answer

There were 1.29 million households on local authority waiting lists at 31 March 2023, an increase of 6% compared to 31 March 2022 and the highest it has been since 2014.
467,000 people in 252,000 households received a new social letting in 2022/23 - down from the 487,000 people in 267,000 households who received a letting in 2021/22.
Households new to the social sector comprised 67% of new lets in 2022/23, up from 65% in 2021/22. These households were living in the private sector, their own home, temporary accommodation or sleeping rough immediately prior.
58% of households with a new social letting in 2022/23 who were new to the social sector were on the waiting list in that area for less than a year.
Nearly a quarter (23%) of new social lettings in 2022/23 were to statutorily homeless households, up from 17% in 2021/22. Households living in temporary accommodation immediately prior to their new letting comprised 15% of new lets, compared to 14% in 2021/22.
Most lead tenants of households with a new social letting in 2022/23 were UK nationals (90%, or 226,000 lead tenants). European nationals comprised 4% of lead tenants (10,000) with the remaining 6% from nations outside the European Economic Area (EEA)(16,000).
40% of lead tenants in households in a new General Needs letting were employed in 2022/23 – an increase from 38% in 2021/22. The remainder include the unemployed, retired, those unable to work due illness and those not seeking work.
On average, households in a new General Needs let spent 31% of their income on rent in 2022/23, down from 32% in 2021/22.
42% of households with a new letting in 2022/23 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 43% in 2021/22.

Question 2

2. Introduction

Accepted Answer

This series is about new social housing lettings in England in 2022/23 by local authorities and private registered providers. It covers new Social Rent, Affordable Rent and Intermediate Rent lets, for both General Needs and Supported Housing.

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

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

Social housing lettings are when social housing properties - homes owned by social landlords - are rented by households at cheaper rents than in the private sector. Social landlords can be a local authority (often known as “council housing”) or a private registered provider (which includes housing associations). They must be registered with the Regulator of Social Housing. In most areas, social housing is allocated by the local authority. Each local authority runs a “waiting list” as there are more people applying for social housing than properties available. In 2022/23, 17% 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 4.2 million social properties were let during 2022/23.

Question 3

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

Accepted Answer

The 252,000 households with a new social housing letting in 2022/23 equated to approximately 467,000 people – roughly 1 in 116 people in England^{[footnote 1]}. This is a decrease of 20,000 (4%) from the previous year (2021/22).

This year’s decrease should be considered within the wider context of a steady decline since the most recent peak in lettings in 2013/14. Since this peak the number of tenants getting new social housing lettings has decreased by 292,000 (38%). After a sizeable decrease in 2020/21 due to the Covid-19 pandemic there was a rebound in 2021/22. However 2022/23 saw the continuation of the long term declining trend seen before Covid-19.

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 - 2022/23

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 2]})

Affordable Rent (AR)

Where the rent to be paid by tenants can be no more than 80% of the market value for the property.

Intermediate Rent (IR)

Often part of a specific named scheme. Rent must not exceed 80% of the current market rate, the reduced rent is an opportunity for the tenant to save towards a house purchasing deposit. There may also be a future opportunity to purchase all or a share of the property currently being rented.

The majority (65%) of tenants with new social lettings in 2022/23 moved into General Needs lettings on a Social Rent basis. The remainder are mainly shared between Social Rent Supported Housing (15% in 2022/23) and, since 2011/12 when Affordable Rent was introduced, Affordable Rent General Needs properties (18% in 2022/23).

Figure 2: Percentage of new social lettings by rent and needs type, 2007/08 - 2022/23

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.

Around a third (32%) of households starting a new social tenancy in 2022/23 were existing social tenants renewing or transferring within the sector – the remaining 68% entered from outside the sector.

The 32% of households already living in the social sector comprise 31% who moved within the sector (between properties, landlords or location) and 1% 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 coming from a greater variety of routes. For General Needs lettings the most common previous tenure was a General Needs social tenancy (29% of new lettings in 2022/23) whereas for Supported Housing it was living with family / friends (18% of new lettings in 2022/23).

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, 2022/23

Rank	General Needs	Supported Housing
1	To move to independent accommodation (14%)	To move to accommodation with support (23%)
2	Property unsuitable because of overcrowding (13%)	Property unsuitable because of ill health/disability (14%)
3	Asked to leave by family or friends (11%)	Asked to leave by family or friends (13%)

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.

The percentage of households leaving their last settled home due to domestic abuse has increased steadily from 4.6% in 2013/14, to 7.1% in 2022/23.

Figure 3: Percentage of households leaving their last settled home due to domestic abuse, 2007/08 - 2022/23

Refugees comprised 1.1% of new social housing lettings in 2022/23 at 2,300 households – this is an increase from the 1.0% or 2,200 households in 2021/22.

Households who were in a children’s home or foster care immediately prior to their letting made up 0.5% of new social housing lettings in 2022/23 (1,200 households) compared to 0.4% in 2021/22 (1,200 households).

Eviction on a ‘no fault’ basis was the primary self-reported reason for leaving their last settled home for 9% of households in a new social letting (19,000 households), an increase from 7% in 2021/22 (16,000 households) and the highest this value has been since ‘no fault’ evictions were added as specific a reason category in 2017/18.

Inability to afford renewal fees, rent increases or mortgage was given as the primary reason for leaving by 2% of households, with repossession given by 0.4% of households. This is similar to 2021/22 where 2% gave their primary reason as cost related and 0.3% gave their reason as repossession.

4.1 Homelessness

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

Nearly 37,000 households were in temporary accommodation (defined as hostels, bed and breakfasts, hospitals, and prisons) immediately prior to their new social housing letting (15% of new lettings in 2022/23), another 4,000 households were sleeping rough (2%) and 50,000 households were living with friends and family (20%).

The households that were in temporary accommodation before their letting in 2022/23 consisted of 68,000 people, 23,000 of which were under 16 years old. Meanwhile the households sleeping rough consisted of 5,000 people, 200 of which were under 16 years old.

Since last year (2021/22):

There were 400 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 rose from 14% to 15%.
There were 300 fewer new lets to households sleeping rough, a fall of 7%.
The proportion of new lets to rough sleepers remained at 2%.

Over the past decade (since 2012/13):

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 lets fell by 126,000).
There were 5,000 fewer households entering social housing following a period of rough sleeping, a slight decrease of 0.7% in the proportion of all new lettings.

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

How many new lettings went to statutorily homeless households?

Definition: Statutorily Homeless

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

Nearly a quarter (23%) of new lettings in 2022/23 were to households deemed to be “statutorily homeless” (58,000 households), up from 17% in 2021/22 (45,000 households).

The percentage of new lettings to statutorily homeless households increased substantially in 2022/23, returning to the sharp upward trend that started in 2019/20

Figure 4: Percentage of households deemed statutorily homeless prior to letting, 2007/08 - 2022/23

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 2]} published in November 2020 for more information.

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

Definition: Reasonable Preference

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

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

- Insanitary, unsatisfactory or overcrowded conditions

- Medical welfare

- Hardship

Half (50%) of new social lettings were to households given priority by a local authority (note that whether priority was given was unknown in 29% 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 a half (50%) in 2022/23, the highest it has been since Reasonable Preference was introduced in 2012/13.

Over half (51%) of new General Needs lets in 2022/23 were made under at least one Reasonable Preference category, compared to 45% of new Supported Housing lets. Both of these are increases on the previous year (49% and 39% respectively).

Households can be granted Reasonable Preference in multiple categories. The most common reason in 2022/23 for both needs types was homelessness (or threat of homelessness), making up 22% of all new lettings, where Reasonable Preference status was known.

Half of new General Needs lettings in 2022/23 were granted “Reasonable Preference” with homelessness being the most common reason

Figure 5: Percentage of households granted Reasonable Preference and specific Reasonable Preference categories, 2022/23

Table 2: Numbers of new social lettings by Reasonable Preference category as a percentage of lettings where Reasonable Preference is known by needs type, 2022/23

Reasonable Preference reason	General Needs	Supported Housing
Household given Reasonable Preference because they were homeless or about to lose their home (within 56 days).	22%	22%
Household given Reasonable Preference because they were living in overcrowded or unsatisfactory housing	10%	3%
Household given Reasonable Preference because they had a need to move on medical and welfare grounds (including a disability)	11%	15%
Household given Reasonable Preference because they had a need to move to avoid hardship to tenant or others	7%	4%
Household given Reasonable Preference, but don’t know the specific category	4%	5%

Question 5

5. Waiting lists

Accepted Answer

There were 1.29 million households on local authority waiting lists at 31 March 2023. This represents an increase of 73,000 households (6%) compared to 31 March 2022. This is the highest number of households on the waiting list since 2014.

Local authority waiting list 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 waiting lists is likely to overstate the number of households who still require housing. If a household is on a waiting list in more than one local authority, they will be counted twice in the national figure, which will also increase the over count.

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

The number of households on at least one local authority’s waiting list has been 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’ waiting lists, 1986/87 - 2022/23

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

58% of households who were new to the social housing sector in 2022/23 were on the waiting list for less than a year in that local authority area before they got their letting. 9% of households were on the waiting list for 5 years or more before getting a social letting in that area.

Households entering a new Supported Housing letting were more likely to be on the waiting list for less than a year than for General Needs (74% compared to 54%), and less likely to be waiting 5 years or more (7% compared to 10%).

Households with a new Supported Housing let in 2022/23 generally spent less time on the waiting list before their new letting

Figure 7: Percentages of new social lettings by the time they spent on the waiting list and needs type, 2022/23

Information on how long a household has spent on the waiting list was first collected in 2018/19. Since then the percentage of households new to the sector who were on the waiting list for less than a year has remained broadly constant. There has been a decrease in households waiting more than 5 years, from 14% to 9% over the same time period.

Figure 8: Percentages of new social lettings by the time they spent on the waiting list, 2018/19 - 2022/23

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

The time spent on the waiting list for those new to the social sector varies by household composition. Two-thirds (69%) of households composed of a sole occupant aged 60 years or more spent less than a year on the waiting list before starting a new let. In contrast, under half (47%) of households comprising a couple with at least one child spent less than a year on the waiting list.

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

Of the 1.29 million households on the social housing waiting list on 31 March 2023, 593,000 had been granted Reasonable Preference in at least one category (46%)^{[footnote 4]}.

Of households that were new to the social sector and were granted Reasonable Preference, 59% were on the waiting list for less than a year and 9% 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 waiting list for a similar amount of time as those without Reasonable Preference.

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

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 5]}. 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?

37% of local authorities used only a local connection test as at 31 March 2023 (115 LAs), 15% used only a residency test (45 LAs), 38% used both tests (116 LAs) and 10% did not use either test (32 LAs). One local authority did not respond to this question^{[footnote 4]}.

Figure 9: Percentages of local authorities by type of local connection or residency test they use, 2022/23

Of the 161 LAs that used a residency test, 88 had a test of at least 2 years, 36 had a test of 3-4 years and 33 had a test of 5 years or more. There were no LAs with a residency test of longer than 10 years. Four local authorities with a residency connection test did not say how long these tests were^{[footnote 4]}.

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, 22% of households have continuously lived in the area of their new social letting for less than 2 years prior, 10% lived there for more than 2 years but less than 5 and 68% have lived there for 5 or more years.

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

39% of new lettings in 2022/23 were in areas that use only a local connection test (94,000 lets), 14% were in areas that use only a residency test (33,000 lets), 32% were in areas that use both tests (75,000 lets) and 15% were in areas that don’t use either test (35,000 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, nearly half (47%) 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 12,000 households out of 25,000.

In those areas, the other 53% of new lets were to households who had not been living in the area for a minimum length specified by the residency test (13,000 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

Over three-quarters (78%) of new lettings were to single adult led households (57% without children, 21% 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. Almost a third of all new lettings contained at least one child (31%), while 16% contained a couple.

Figure 10: Percentages of new social lettings by their household composition, 2007/08 - 2022/23

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 2022/23, 73% of new Social Rent Supported Housing lettings by LAs were to older people compared to 38% in PRPs, whereas 57% let by PRPs were to single adults compared to 21% of LAs.

A far greater proportion of households in new General Needs lettings contain children and/or couples – 37% of new Social Rent lettings included at least one child, and 54% for Affordable Rent. While for new Supported Housing lettings in 2022/23 it was 4% for Social Rent and 6% for Affordable Rent.

Single elders were the most common household composition for new Supported Housing lets in 2022/23 compared to Single female with child(ren) for General Needs

Figure 11: Percentages of new social lettings by their household composition and needs types, 2022/23

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 over a third of people (35%) in new General Needs lettings in 2022/23.
Under-35s were over-represented in new General Needs lets, at more than two-thirds (67%) of tenants, compared to 43% of the population of England^{[footnote 6]}.
71% of 16 to 34-year old lead tenants in new General Needs lets were women, likely to be reflecting the priority given to single parents, who are more likely to be single mothers.

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

31% of new Supported Housing lettings were to households with a lead tenant over 65 in 2022/23.
Of lead tenants aged 25 to 64 years in new Supported Housing lettings, 60% were male.

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

Figure 12: Percentages of people in new social lettings by age, gender and needs type compared to the general population, 2022/23

New social lettings to the young have fallen – new lettings to lead tenants aged 16 to 24 years fell from 29% to 16% in Supported Housing and from 25% to 16% in General Needs, in the decade up to 2022/23. Over the same time period, the percentage of lead tenants aged 16 to 24 across all sectors has dropped from 4%^{[footnote 7]} to 3%^{[footnote 8]}.

Figure 13: Percentages of new lettings by age of lead tenant and needs type, 2007/08 - 2022/23

New social lettings to female lead tenants have increased for General Needs (from 59% to 63%) but have remained consistent for Supported Housing (from 45% to 45%) between 2012/13 and 2022/23.

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 (47%) of lead tenants were aged 55 and over, whilst around a fifth (18%) were aged 16 to 35 years^{[footnote 8]}.
In new social lettings these figures are almost reversed, with only 27% of lead tenants aged 55 and over, and 44% 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 4 years for private renters ^{[footnote 9]}.

6.3 Ethnicity

The majority of lead tenants in 2022/23 were in the White ethnic group, comprising 81% of new lettings. This is similar to the general population in England^{[footnote 10]} where 81% identify as White. Black households were over-represented in new social housing lettings, making up 8% of lettings compared to 4% of the English population. Asian households were under-represented, constituting 5% of lettings but 10% of the population. The remaining new lettings were to households with mixed race lead tenants and those who identified as Other, both making up 3%, similar to the proportion in England.

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

Figure 14: Percentages of households in new social lettings by grouped ethnicity of lead tenant (excluding White), 2007/08 - 2022/23

6.4 Nationality

Most lead tenants of households with a new social letting in 2022/23 were UK nationals (90%, or 226,000 lead tenants). European nationals comprised 4% of lead tenants (10,000) with the remaining 6% from nations outside the European Economic Area (EEA)(16,000). This percentage of UK national lead tenants in new lets is similar to the composition of nationalities of lead tenants in the English population (91%)^{[footnote 11]}. However, there is a higher percentage of European national lead tenants in the English population (7%) and a lower proportion of nationals from outside of Europe (3%).

The proportion of new 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 been falling since 2013/14, the number of households led by an EEA national has decreased from 18,000 in 2013/14 to 10,000 in 2022/23.

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 6% in 2022/23. This is an increase from 10,000 non-EEA led households in 2020/21 to 16,000 in 2022/23 (a 69% rise).

Figure 15: Percentages of households in new social lettings by grouped nationality of lead tenant (excluding UK nationals), 2007/08 - 2022/23

6.5 Economic status

A third (32%) of lead tenants in new social housing lettings in 2022/23 were in employment, an increase from 30% in 2021/22. Employment remains the most common economic status. 16% 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.

The economic status of tenants differs between housing types. Since Supported Housing is specifically designed for tenants with particular needs and tenants have an older age profile, fewer lead tenants are in work (8%, compared to 40% for General Needs). Supported Housing has a substantially larger proportion of retired lead tenants (31%, compared to 7% for General Needs).

Five times as many lead tenants in new General Needs tenancies in 2022/23 were employed, compared to Supported Housing

Figure 16: Percentages of households in new social lettings by economic status of lead tenant and needs type, 2022/23

In General Needs new lettings, the proportion of lead tenants who were employed increased from 38% to 40% between 2021/22 and 2022/23. This is a return to the pre-Covid-19 peak in employment in general needs lettings of 40% in 2019/20.

Employment of lead tenants in new General Needs lets rose again in 2022/23 after a sudden dip in 2020/21

Figure 17: Percentages of households in new General Needs lettings by economic status of lead tenant, 2007/08 - 2022/23

In Supported Housing new lettings, unemployed has decreased from 17% in 2021/22 to 15% in 2022/23 while those not seeking work has increased from 19% to 22%.

The other economic statuses of lead tenants have remained similar to the previous year; 8% employed, 21% unable to work due to sickness and 31% retired.

The percentage of lead tenants in new Supported Housing lettings who are retired has been increasing since 2019/20

Figure 18: Percentages of households in new Supported Housing lettings by economic status of lead tenant, 2007/08 - 2022/23

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, 2022/23

Compared to the social housing sector as a whole, lead tenants in new social lettings made in 2022/23 were less likely to be employed and more likely to be unemployed. In new lets, 32% of lead tenants were employed compared to 42% in the whole social sector^{[footnote 8]} . In contrast 13% were unemployed in new lets compared to 7% 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 is far below that of the general population (36% compared to 77% in March 2023^{[footnote 12]}).

6.6 Vulnerable groups

What about people with disabilities or long-term illnesses?

42% of households (87,000) with a new letting in 2022/23 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 a slight decrease from 43% in 2021/22. This data was first collected in 2021/22 so no comments can be made on the long-term trend.

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 (38% compared to 58%). 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 (60,000 compared to 27,000).

Mental health was the most common long-term illness amongst households with a new social let in 2022/23, at 21% of households (44,000). Mobility was the second most common, reported by 16% of households (34,000). 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 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, 2022/23

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

In 2022/23, 16% of households included a tenant with a long-term illness or disability which prevented them from working. This is a slight increase from 15% in 2021/22, following a fall from 18% in 2016/17.

A fifth (20%) 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 22% 2021/22 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 – 30% of Supported Housing new lets compared to 17% 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 2021/22 this breakdown is similar with 30% of Supported Housing new lets and an increase from 19% of General Needs new lets.

What about veterans and members of the Armed Forces?

There were 2,800 households on the waiting list on 31 March 2023 which included a member of the UK Armed Forces community^{[footnote 4]}.

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.

3,000 households given a new social housing letting in 2022/23 included someone who has served in the Armed Forces. This represents approximately 1% of all new lettings, which is a decrease from the 2% in 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 13]}.

Of the 3,000 households with a new social let 2,700 contained a member who had served in the regular Armed forces and 300 contained a member who had served as a reservist. 16% of these were injured or disabled as a direct result of serving in the Armed Forces, again similar to previous years.

Households containing someone who is still serving in the Armed Forces or had left up to 5 years ago were far more likely to have just moved to the local authority area of their new letting (27%) than veterans who left 5 or more years ago (16%) and the civilian population (12%) in 2022/23. This continues the trend since 2015/16 when this data was first collected.

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 2022/23 the average bedroom standard^{[footnote 15]} was 1.5. Over the last decade this figure has remained constant.

The average bedroom standard differs by needs types - for new General Needs lettings in 2022/23 it was 1.6, while for Supported Housing it was 1.1. This is likely due to the different types of households that make up each needs type, for example Supported Housing is made up of more single adult households whereas there are more families in General Needs (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 2022/23 were allocated a property of appropriate size - the average difference between the number of bedrooms a household has and the number they need according to the bedroom standard was 0.2. However, 2% of households were allocated a General Needs property that was too small for them, i.e. where the bedroom standard was higher than the number of bedrooms in the property they received.

The proportion of households given a General Needs property that is too small for them according to the bedroom standard varies across the country, with it being highest in London at 5% whereas for the rest of the country it was between 1% and 2%.

London was the region with the greatest proportion of new General Needs lets in properties too small for the household in 2022/23, 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, 2022/23

A fifth (20%) of new lettings in 2022/23 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 16]}). 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 16]}).

In 2022/23, 2,900 households said they required fully accessible housing.

Of these households, 1,700 were placed in General Needs accommodation and 67% of these households received housing that had been designed or adapted to wheelchair user standards, this compares to 60% in 2021/22.

The remaining 1,100 were placed in Supported Housing, of these 84% received housing that had been designed or adapted to either the accessible general or wheelchair standard. This compares to 82% in 2021/22.

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, this compares to 46% in 2021/22.

The remaining 400 were placed in Supported Housing, of these 77% received housing that had been designed or adapted to either the accessible general or wheelchair standard. This compares to 72% in 2021/22.

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 2022/23 was £290 per week, which is an increase of £36 (or 14%) from the previous year.

The median net weekly household income varies by needs type. For General Needs it was £315 per week, while for Supported Housing it was £167, which is just over half (53%) 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 2022/23

Figure 22: Distribution of weekly net household incomes for new lettings by needs type, 2022/23

Have incomes of tenants in new lettings changed over time?

Median incomes for households in both new General Needs lettings and Supported Housing lettings have increased since 2007/08, from £142 to £315 per week (a 122% increase) for new General Needs lettings and from £84 to £167 per week (a 99% 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 - 2022/23

How much of household income comes from benefits?

79% of households in a new social letting in 2022/23 received some form of housing-related benefit – 52% 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 78% of households received a housing-related benefit, compared to 84% of households in new Supported Housing lets. For General Needs 61% received Universal Credit housing element and 16% 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 63% 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, 2022/23

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 (79%). 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 - 2022/23

Of households who answered whether they received pensions and/or benefits, just over half (53%) got their income solely from pensions and benefits, with a further 28% supplementing their earnings with pensions or benefits and the remaining 19% not claiming pensions or benefits.

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

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 2022/23. This is a decrease compared to 2021/22 when it was 32%. The rent burden had been slowly increasing since 2017/18.

Households in a new Supported Housing letting, spent 55% of their income on rent on average in 2022/23, which is the same as it was in 2021/22. 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 - 2022/23

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 39% of their income on rent in 2022/23. In the rest of England, the lowest average spend of household income on rent was 26%, seen in the North East. This maintains the recent pattern of London having substantially higher rent burden for new General Needs social lets than other regions of England.

London is the region with the highest rent burden for new General Needs lettings in 2022/23

Figure 27: Rent burden by English region for General Needs lettings, 2022/23

Similarly, for Supported Housing, London was the region with the highest rent burden (77%) however the region with the lowest burden was the South West (43%).

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 2022/23 households with lead tenants between 65 to 74 years 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 2022/23

Figure 28: Rent burden by age band of lead tenant for new social lettings, 2022/23

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 35%, whereas those under 24 years old spending the highest proportion of their income on rent at 77%.

How has the methodology for rent burden changed this year?

Methodology proposals

Originally for households receiving housing benefit, rent burden was calculated by estimating housing benefit using data on household members’ economic status, age and the number of bedrooms. This meant that rent burden was only available for General Needs lettings (where bedroom data is available), required complete demographic data and relied on assumptions to convert this into the variables required for estimating housing benefit.

We propose to instead use the self-reported data on the difference between the amount of housing benefit the household receives and the amount charged through rent and eligible service charges. This method has been proposed as it is simpler than the original method, requiring fewer variables to be complete and fewer assumptions therefore giving greater accuracy. Additionally, it allows us to calculate rent burden for Supported Housing which provides greater insight on the 25% of households living in Supported Housing. Full details of both methods can be found in the technical notes, which is available from the same landing page as this report.

All rent burden figures used in this report have been produced with the proposed new methodology. For new General Needs lettings in 2022/23 the original method gave a median rent burden of 33% which is slightly higher than the same measure made with the proposed method, 31%.

The self-reported data on the difference between housing benefit and housing costs (rent and eligible charged) was first collected in 2013/14, so the proposed new methodology would start from 2013/14.

Figure 29: Rent burden by method for new General Needs lettings, 2007/08 - 2022/23

Comparing the values between the methods for General Needs lettings, the trends between the methods are similar. However, the proposed method is consistently lower in comparable years, this is likely to be because the new method requires less assumptions that may have led to overestimates in the original method. More details on these assumptions can be found in the technical notes. As the

original method was not available for Supported Housing, we cannot make historic comparisons.

With the proposed method, rent burden values are available for 36% of new General Needs lettings compared to 38 for the original method. For new Supported Housing lettings in 2022/23 rent burden could be calculated for 16% using the proposed method compared to 0% for the original method.

If you have any views on this proposal, please contact the CORE team at CORE@levellingup.gov.uk

Question 9

9. Footnotes

Accepted Answer

Population and household estimates, England and Wales: Census 2021, unrounded data. ↩ ↩²
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. ↩
Census 2021 Age by single year. ↩
English housing survey headline report 2012 to 2013: tables, T1. ↩
English Housing Survey 2022 to 2023: headline report, Section 1: households annex tables, AT1_3. ↩ ↩² ↩³
English Housing Survey 2022 to 2023: headline report, Section 1: households annex tables, AT3_6. ↩
Ethnic group, England and Wales: Census 2021. ↩
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. ↩
Housing Act 1985. ↩
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 “Other” are only assumed to share a room with another household member identifying as “Other”. ↩
Access to and use of buildings: Approved Document M. ↩ ↩²

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