The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) has published new Affordable Housing Supply figures which show a 12% increase in affordable homes from 2016-17 to 2017-18
Key findings from the Affordable Housing Supply report include:
- There were 47,355 affordable homes delivered in England in 2017-18, an increase of 12% compared to 2016- 17.
- Since 2013-14, affordable rent has become the most common tenure type for affordable homes delivery. In 2017-18, there were 26,838 new affordable rent homes, representing 57% of all new affordable homes.
- 47% of all affordable homes delivered in 2017-18 were funded through section 106 (nil grant) agreements. This has been increasing year-on-year since a low in 2014-15 when section 106 (nil grant) accounted for 22% of affordable homes delivered.
- There were 8.5 affordable homes delivered per 10,000 population in England. This is similar to the average of the previous 15 years (9.0 affordable homes)
- 90% of affordable homes delivered in England were new build.
- There were 53,572 starts on site in England in 2017-18, an 11% increase on the previous year.
Commenting on the latest report, Patrick Gower, residential research associate, Knight Frank, said: “The Prime Minister will no doubt be encouraged by data published this morning [22 November] revealing the number of Affordable Housing completions in England climbed to 47,355 in 2017-18, up 12% on the previous year.
“The proportion of all new-build completions that were Affordable Homes also crept up to 24%, from 23% the previous year.
“The increase comes amid a wider uptick in new build housing supply, which climbed to 195,290 in 2017-18, an increase of 6% on the previous year.
“The mix of Affordable Housing completions in England has remained steady during the year. Homes for Social Rent accounted for 14% of completions, the same as the previous year, London Affordable Rent and Affordable Rent accounted for 57% of completions, down from 58%, and Intermediate Housing, which includes Shared Ownership, accounted for 29%, up from 28%.
“The number of Affordable Homes that started on site climbed 11% to 53,572, indicating that the number of homes likely to complete in the coming two to three years is also likely to increase.”
Andrew Lloyd, Managing Director at Search Acumen added: “The UK government and industry has finally woken up to the scale of our nation’s housing crisis.
“It’s encouraging to see recent drives to increase the supply of affordable housing start to reach fruition, with over 47,000 affordable homes delivered in 2017-18. But we have a lot of work to do – National Housing Federation estimates suggest we need to be building more than 140,000 affordable properties a year to help satisfy demand.
“While the need to build more affordable homes is an urgent one, we have to ensure that the resolution to this problem isn’t a knee jerk reaction of more promises of affordable housing investment, without thought as to what type of properties are most in need, and where they are needed. If we are to fix the UK’s housing crisis for this generation and those to come, we need to take a smarter approach.
“The government has made its intentions clear that both public and private enterprises must take advantage of property data to make better planning and building decisions. To build more, we need to do a better job of identifying and unlocking the sites best suited for affordable housing, and to make sure we’re not only building the right kind of homes at the right price, but in the right places also.”
