Affordable housing completions reach the highest levels in eight years.

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The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) recently published new data on the number of new affordable housing starts and completions in 2022/23.

Across England, 63,605 new affordable homes were completed in the year: an increase of 7% on 2021/22 and the highest number since 2014/15. Looking forward, more than 71,000 new homes began construction in the year. This is the highest number of affordable housing starts since data collection began in 2014/15.

Homes for affordable rent accounted for 38% of affordable housing completions, making it the most common tenure. Shared ownership was the second most common tenure, accounting for 32%, while social rent made up only 15% of completions.

Private Registered Providers (PRPs) built 78% of new affordable homes in the period, compared to 14% by Local Authority Registered Providers (LARPs).

 

The Northern picture

Social landlords built a total of 13,282 homes across the three Northern regions in 2022/23. This is, again, the highest figure since 2014/15.  The chart opposite shows the annual number of affordable housing completions between 1991/92 and 2022/23.

A total of 13,849 affordable housing starts commenced within the year too: the highest figure since 2019/20.

Exactly half of all affordable homes delivered in the North were for affordable rent, compared to 33% for shared ownership and 11% for social rent.

The North West region built the highest number of new affordable homes, at 7,034 in the year. You will find a full regional in the below table.

Region Number of affordable housing completions (22/23) Number of affordable housing starts (22/23)
North East 1,857 3,023
North West 7,034 7,504
Yorkshire & Humber 4,391 3,322
North 13,282 13,849
England 63,605 71,046

Twenty-nine percent of affordable homes in the North were delivered as part of Section 106 agreements. This continues the pattern of Section 106 delivering proportionately fewer homes in the North than across the country. For comparison, section 106 delivered 47% of all new affordable homes in England.

 

The ten Northern local authority areas that built the greatest number of new affordable homes were:

  • Leeds – 665 homes
  • Cheshire West and Chester – 636 homes
  • East Riding of Yorkshire – 584 homes
  • Preston – 519 homes
  • Wigan – 498 homes
  • Cheshire East – 496 homes
  • Warrington – 450 homes
  • Newcastle upon Tyne – 425 homes
  • Manchester – 413 homes
  • Doncaster – 408 homes

 

You can find further detail and statistics on affordable housing development from DLUHC here.