New government figures released today (6th February) have
revealed a net loss of 7,723 social homes in England last year,
as sales and demolitions continue to surpass the number of homes
built.
The figures show:
-
17,589 social homes were either sold or demolished last year
in England, yet just 9,866 social homes were built – a net
loss of 7,723 homes.
Responding to the figures, Matt Downie, Chief Executive
at Crisis, said: “Homelessness is rising, yet we're
still losing more social homes than we're building.
“The lack of safe and secure housing is having untold
consequences on people's lives. Children robbed of a stable
upbringing, people trapped in expensive rented accommodation
that's riddled with mould, and parents forced to spend hours on
buses to get to work or school. We cannot let the housing crisis
affect further generations to come.
“The Westminster government's commitment to build 1.5 million
homes and deliver the biggest wave of social housing in a
generation is the action we need. But to turn this vision into a
reality we need to see 90,000 social homes built every year and
funding at the forthcoming spending review to actually deliver
them. In the meantime we must pull every lever available to us,
including repurposing empty homes, so that people can move out of
homelessness for good.”
-Ends-
Notes to Editor
Live tables on social housing
sales, Table 678 and 684 detail sales and demolitions of
social housing. A summary is here
In 2023-24, 17,589 social rented homes were sold or demolished
across England.
The number of completed social homes was 9,866 in 2023-24. Data
available here
