Housing in England: key facts

Housing in England: key facts

Housebuilding [1]
Provisional net additions to total housing stock 2008/09 = 166,600 of which 157,600 were new build. Remainder accounted for by conversions plus change of use minus demolitions. 23,400 of new build housing completions in 2007/08 were affordable compared to 26,120 (provisionally) in 2008/09.

New dwelling starts increased from 80,361 in 2008/09 to a provisional 87,360 in 2009/10. Following an increase in affordable housing starts between 2007/08 and 2008/09, such starts fell from 20,530 in 2008/09 to 18,550 (provisionally) in 2009/10[2]. Housing output overall is relatively low compared with output over the past 50 years, largely because in spite of a slight upward trend in the construction of affordable, i.e. subsidised, housing has collapsed.

In 2008/09 50% of all homes built were flats, and 46% had 2 bedrooms, 41% having 3 or more[3].

The number of permanent dwellings completed in all categories (private enterprise, local authority, registered social landlord) continued to fall following a seventeen year peak of 174,900 in 2007, to a provisional 118,010 in 2009[4]. 
 

Housing densities[5]
Number of dwellings built per hectare (dpha) in 2009 = 45 (provisionally), up from 43 in 2008.
Average density has risen annually since 2001, having been around 20-25 dpha for some years.

Land recycling
Percentage of dwellings built on previously developed land, including conversions, in 2009 = 80%, unchanged from 2008[6].
The national target of 60% of homes on brownfield sites by 2008 was achieved in 2000, the figure of 80% recorded in 2009 represents a further increase from 74% in 2006[6].

Brownfield land[7]
In 2007 there were 62130 hectares of previously developed land with the potential for redevelopment.
26510 hectares of this land could be suitable for housing development, with the potential to deliver 1,051,000 homes.

Green Belt[6]
In 2009 2% (provisional) of dwellings were built within Greenbelt – the same rate as in 2004. Provisionally, 7% of land changing to residential use in 2009 was in designated Greenbelt, this figure remaining static since 2008.

Developers’ landholdings[8]
The leading UK housebuilders held around 240,000 housing plots with full or outline planning permission in 1998. This figure rose by 44% to 341,500 plots in 2005. However, in 2008/09 271,947 plots were owned and controlled by these housebuilders. This decline is probably mostly attributable to the financial downturn.

Empty homes and second homes
Approximately 703,000 homes in England were vacant in April 2008, equating to around 3.1% of all stock. The shortfall of housing between 2009 stock, and household projections for 2011 is approximately 148,000 dwellings. In 2009 The North West region had the most empty homes (122,632) followed by Yorkshire and the Humber (90,768) and the South East (84,205). The figures for the North West and the South East represent a light decline from those recorded in 2007. In 2009 The South East, London and Eastern regions together accounted for almost a third of empty homes in England(214,080)[9].
Number of second homes in England in 2006/07 = 241,000, an increase of around 20% since 1996/97[10].

Notes

1 DCLG (May 2010) Housing and Planning Key Facts
2 DCLG Live Table 208 May 2010
3 DCLG Live Table 254 August 2009
4 DCLG Live Table 244 May 2010
5 DCLG Live Table 231 May 2010
6 DCLG (2010) Land Use Change Statistics (England) 2009 – Provisional estimates
7 DCLG (2008) Previously developed land that might be available for development: England 2007
8 CPRE analysis of data in major developers’ 2009 interim or full annual reports (Barratt, Bellway, Bovis, Miller, Persimmon, Redrow, Taylor Wimpey)
9 Empty Homes Agency (2009) Housing strategy statistical appendix
10 DCLG (2008) Housing in England 2006/07