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Government statistics show 37% drop in social rent conversions
The number of homes converted from social rent to affordable rent dropped sharply last year, official statistics show.
Figures published by the government today reveal a 6% decrease in the total number of social housing lettings in 2017/18, down to 313,000.
These latest numbers mean the number of social homes which become available each year has fallen 21% since 2013/14, when levels were at 397,000.
New lettings have fallen among both council and housing association stock – despite the latter increasing by 25% in the past 10 years.
A report accompanying the figures suggested that the “widening affordability gap between the social and private rental sectors” could be behind the drop, as social tenants choose to move into private accommodation less often.
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Data released today also indicated a 37% decrease in the number of homes converted from social rent to affordable rent last year.
This practice, which began after the government cut all grant funding for social rent in 2010, has been widely criticised by housing campaigners.
Affordable rent can be up to 80% of market rates and is much dearer than social rent in many areas, particularly London and the South East.
According to the Chartered Institute of Housing, more than 100,000 social rent homes were lost in this way from 2011/12 to 2016/17.
However, the new government figures show that while there were 8,524 new affordable rent lettings on homes which were previously for social rent in 2016/17, this fell to 5,344 in 2017/18.
Three in 10 (30%) affordable rent lettings on existing homes in 2017/18 were converted from social rent, down from 44% the previous year.
The vast majority of such lettings were in housing association homes.
Including new builds, 39,941 lettings in 2017/18 were at affordable rent, while 272,806 were for social rent and 242 were Rent to Buy.
Two-thirds of lettings were to tenants not previously living in social housing, including homeless households who made up 18% of lettings.
