Accredited official statistics

Social housing sales and demolitions 2023-24

Published 6 February 2025

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/social-housing-sales-and-demolitions-2023-24-england/social-housing-sales-and-demolitions-2023-24--5

This statistical release presents data on the number of social housing dwellings sold and demolished in the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. This data is subject to revisions.

Social housing is defined in the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 sections 68-77. The term covers low-cost rental, low cost home ownership and accommodation owned by registered providers as previously defined in the Housing Act 1996.

1. Headline figures

In 2023-24 there were: 17,504 sales of social housing dwellings, a decrease of 28% compared to 2022-23, and the lowest number since 2012-13 (except for 2020-21, the first year following the COVID-19 pandemic)

13,964 sales of social housing were low-cost rental dwellings, a decrease of 25% compared to 2022-23, and the lowest number since 2013-14

3,540 sales of social housing were through low cost home ownership equity reaching 100%, a decrease of 37% compared to 2022-23, and the lowest number since 2012-13

3,625 demolitions of social housing dwellings, an increase of 12% compared with 2022-23, and an increase of 24% compared with 2021-22 (the lowest value reported since data started being collected in 1997-98).

25,830 estimated net increase in the stock of social housing for rent, covered in a new bulletin alongside this release.

2. Introduction

This statistical release presents accredited official statistics [footnote 1] on annual sales and demolitions of social housing in England. It contains information about the dwellings owned by private registered providers collected by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in the Statistical Data Return (SDR) and information about dwellings owned by local authorities collected by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in the Local Authority Housing Statistics (LAHS). There is also supplementary information provided which is sourced from the Continuous Recording (CORE) sales dataset, collected by MHCLG.

This report provides a summary of social housing sales and demolitions. It focusses on the sales of low-cost rental dwellings and the 100% staircased sales of shared ownership properties [footnote 2]. It does not report on the initial sale (or first tranche) of shared ownership dwellings, but characteristics of these purchases can be found in the shared ownership sales section of this release and the various live tables which accompany this statistical release.

More detailed reports also accompany this release:

3. Social housing sales

In 2023-24 there were 17,504 sales of social housing dwellings in England, a decrease of 28% compared to 2022-23 and similar to 2020-21, which had the lowest number of social housing sales since 2012-13. Of these 17,504 sales, 7,177 (41%) were of local authority owned stock and 10,327 (59%) were of stock owned by private registered providers.

Figure 1.1 Total sales of social housing from 1 April 1997 to 31 March 2024, by provider

The data for this chart is available in Live Table 678.

Social housing can be sold through a variety of different schemes or on the open market. The majority of sales are completed through the Right to Buy for local authority housing and preserved or voluntary Right to Buy for private registered provider-owned housing. These 3 schemes accounted for 49% of sales in 2023-24 and have accounted for 90% of all recorded sales since 1980-81.

Sales of rental stock to non-sitting tenants, including sales to the open market, accounted for 26% of all social housing sales in 2023-24 .

The 100% staircased sales [footnote 2] of Shared Ownership properties, known as low cost home ownership (LCHO) sales, accounted for 20% of total sales in 2023-24 and, based on the data available, accounted for 12% of all sales since 2001-02.

Other sales to sitting tenants, which includes Right to Acquire and Social Homebuy, accounted for 5% of sales in 2023-24.

Figure 1.2 Total sales of social housing by type of sale from 1 April 1997 to 31 March 2024, England

The data for this chart is available in Live Table 678.

4. Social housing sales by region

The number of sales of social housing varies significantly by region and is driven largely by the number of Right to Buy sales. Therefore, changes to the Right to Buy scheme have a large impact on regional variations in sales. For more in-depth analysis of these sales, please see the accompanying Right to Buy dedicated section. Due to the variation in stock sizes, the graph below presents sales per 1,000 stock [footnote 4].

There were 4.1 sales per 1,000 stock across all regions in 2023-24. This is lower than the peak of 6.7 sales per 1,000 stock in 2015-16 after the 2012 reinvigoration of the Right to Buy Scheme [footnote 5], and the same as the post-reinvigoration low point of 4.1 sales per 1,000 stock in 2020-21. 

Figure 1.3 Sales of social housing per 1,000 stock from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2024, by English region

The sales data for this chart is available in the Social Housing Sales and Demolitions open data and stock figures are taken from the Local Authority Housing Statistics and the Statistical Data Return for local authorities and private registered providers respectively.

In 2023-24, the total sales per 1,000 stock ranged from 3.1 in the East of England to 5.4 in the West Midlands, with an England figure of 4.1 sales per 1,000 stock.

Compared to the previous year, sales per 1,000 stock decreased across all regions, with the largest decrease being in the East Midlands (down 2.9 sales per 1,000 stock) and the smallest decrease being in the South East (down 0.8 sales per 1,000 stock).

Between April 2013 and March 2016, London saw more sales as a proportion of its housing stock than any other region, averaging 8.3 sales per 1,000 stock in the 3-year period. Between April 2016 and March 2022, the East Midlands and West Midlands saw the most sales as a proportion of stock, driven by the introduction of the Voluntary Right to Buy [footnote 6] pilot scheme in those areas in 2016. In 2022-23, the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber had the most sales as a proportion of stock (7.4 and 7.2 sales per 1,00 stock respectively), and in 2023-24, the West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber had the most sales as a proportion of stock (5.4 and 5.3 sales per 1,000 stock respectively).

Across the regions of England, the main provider of social housing varies substantially, with private registered providers owning more social housing than local authorities in all the regions of England except the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber in 2023-24. However, the proportion of private registered provider owned housing stock varies considerably even in those regions where it has the majority of stock, for example 52% of social housing in London and 86% in the North West is owned by private registered providers.

The graph below shows the number of sales by provider type in each of the regions in England. Sales of private registered provider stock have been consistently higher than sales of local authority stock in the North West, South East and South West. Local authority stock sales have been consistently higher than sales of private registered provider stock in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber.

Figure 1.4 Total sales of social housing from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2024, by provider and English region

The data for this chart is available in the Social Housing Sales and Demolitions open data.

4.1 Low cost home ownership sales by region

For the 3,540 low cost home ownership sales in 2023-24, 34% of these were in London and a further 19% were in the South East. This regional distribution is similar to previous years. 99% of these sales were from private registered providers.

4.2 Transfers of stock by region

Historically, local authorities were the main provider of social housing across all English regions. However, transfers of stock from local authorities to private registered providers, including large scale voluntary transfers (LSVTs) [footnote 7], have resulted in a shift in this balance of local authority and private registered provider owned social housing stock. Between 1988 and 2015 [footnote 8], over 1.3 million social housing dwellings were transferred from local authorities to private registered providers as part of a total of 307 LSVTs. LSVTs were more prevalent in certain regions of the country, particularly in the North West where 85% of stock was owned by private registered providers by 2015.

However, since 2011, records show a steady rate of transfers of stock from local authorities to private registered providers for both the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber, at an average rate of 0.5% and 0.3% per year respectively. For these two regions, where local authorities still hold a larger proportion of social housing stock than private registered providers as of 2023-24, this is only a very slight majority at 52% in both.

5. Demolitions

In 2023-24, there were 3,625 demolitions of social housing dwellings, an increase of 12% compared to 2022-23. Of these, 2,032 (56%) were of local authority stock [footnote 9] and 1,593 (44%) were of private registered provider stock. These demolitions represent 0.1% of the stock of local authorities and private registered providers respectively, at 31 March 2024.

Historically, the number of demolitions of local authority-owned stock was much higher, peaking at just over 14,500 in 2001-02. However, the number of local authority demolitions has since fallen, and in 2023-24, there were only slightly more demolitions of local authority stock than of private registered provider stock, at 2,032 and 1,593 respectively. Demolitions of private registered provider stock have fluctuated more over time, and in 2023-24 increased by 22% compared to 2022-23.

Figure 1.5: Demolitions of social housing stock, from April 1997 to 31 March 2024 by provider

The data for this chart is available in Live Table 684.

Data for demolitions of local authority owned social housing stock is available by region and district since 2011-12. Due to the large variation in the total social housing stock and the type of stock owner in each region, the graph below presents demolitions as a proportion of total stock. It shows that between April 2011 and March 2016 the North East demolished a larger proportion of its total housing stock than any other region, peaking during 2012-13 with 6.5 demolitions per 1,000 stock.

Between April 2016 and March 2024, London demolished a larger proportion of its stock than any other region, averaging 1.7 demolitions per year per 1,000 stock over those 8 years. Over the same period combined, the East of England and the East Midlands demolished proportionally the least stock, averaging 0.5 demolitions per year per 1,000 stock between April 2016 and March 2024.

Figure 1.6 Demolitions of social housing per 1,000 stock from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2024 by English region

The demolitions data for this chart is available in the Social Housing Sales and Demolitions open data and stock figures are taken from the Local Authority Housing Statistics and the Statistical Data Return for local authorities and private registered providers respectively.

Affordable Housing Supply in England 2023-24: A statistical release by MHCLG which reports on the number of affordable housing dwellings started and completed from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. These statistics contain information on the number of Shared Ownership dwellings completed, which can be used as a proxy for the number of Shared Ownership dwellings sold in 2023-24. The live tables accompanying this release report on affordable housing supply from 1991-92 to 2023-24.

Private registered provider social housing stock in England: A statistical release by RSH based on data sourced from the Statistical Data Return on an annual basis, it provides details of private registered provider owned and managed stock, details rents reported for low-cost rental (social and affordable rents) and provides an overview of the private registered provider sector including details on stock losses and gains, and vacancies.

Local Authority Housing Statistics: A statistical dataset released by MHCLG which shows the district-level data collected annually from all local authorities. Parts of the dataset are used as a source for this release, but it is also used to report on dwelling stock, condition of stock, rents and arrears and supply of new social housing.

Right to Buy sales and replacements: A statistical release by MHCLG which reports on the number of Right to Buy sales [footnote 10] of social housing and the number of properties started or acquired to replace these stock funded through the receipts of these sales. The data is sourced from the Pooling of Capital Receipts return which is collected by MHCLG from all local authorities which have a Housing Revenue Account. Up to the end of 2020-21 this was a quarterly release, but from 2021-22 it is an annual release with quarterly management information published.

  1. These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in December 2011. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. ↩

  2. Properties which were once occupied under relevant shared ownership or low cost home ownership arrangements where the occupier has now acquired a 100% share of a shared ownership property or repaid an equity loan on a shared equity property in full. ↩ ↩2

  3. Official statistics in development are official statistics that are undergoing a development; they may be new or existing statistics, and will be tested with users, in line with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. ↩

  4. Stock is reported as at 31 March at the end of the current financial year ↩

  5. More information on the reinvigoration of the Right to Buy scheme can be found in the accompanying Right to Buy document. ↩

  6. In 2016-17, Voluntary Right to Buy (VRtB) was introduced as a small-scale pilot and then widened to a Midlands regional pilot in 2018. This gave the Right to Buy to tenants of private registered providers who previously were not eligible for Preserved Right to Buy. More information can be found in the Voluntary Right to Buy Midlands pilot: evaluation. ↩

  7. A Large Scale Voluntary Transfer is the voluntary transfer of ownership of all or some of a local authority’s tenanted and leasehold homes to a private registered housing provider, registered by the Social Housing Regulator, in return for a payment for the value of that stock. ↩

  8. Data available shows the dates for these 307 large scale voluntary transfers to be from 15 December 1988 to 13 April 2015. ↩

  9. Local authority demolitions relate to Housing Revenue Account stock only, which makes up more than 99% of local authority housing in England. See Section A of the Local Authority Housing Statistics. ↩

  10. These statistics relate only to those sales by local authorities under the Right to Buy scheme which are subject to the Right to Buy receipt pooling requirements. More detail can be found in the definitions section of their technical notes. ↩

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