Get the data: The crisis in the UK’s affordable housing supply system

 Bureau data reveals the UK’s lack of affordable homes. (Image: Homes via Shutterstock)

Rising rents and house prices combined with welfare cuts are leaving councils struggling to cope with increasing numbers of homeless people.

And yet the supply of publicly funded affordable homes built in the UK is falling.

The number of affordable house building starts funded by the Homes and Communities Agency, the government’s national housing body and regulator, and the Greater London Authority is still 33% lower than when the coalition came to power. The total number of affordable homes – including those in private schemes – built in England actually fell 4.1% to 57,950 in 2011/2012.

The second phase of the Bureau’s investigation into the housing crisis focuses on affordable housing supply. Our research consists of three separate but related data studies. These have established:

  • whether the UK’s biggest housing developments in 12 of the UK’s biggest cities meet local Affordable Housing Targets;
  • the amount of affordable housing one of the UK’s biggest housing projects will deliver; and
  • the number of legally agreed affordable homes renegotiated by councils and developers.

The full data sets can be viewed and downloaded here:

Click here to download the data on the affordable housing contribution within the UK’s biggest developments

Click here to download the data on the affordable housing being built in one of Europe’s largest housing developments – in the heart of London

Click here to download the data on which councils have lost affordable homes through Section 106 renegotiations

And here is the methodology behind our research.

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this database through repeated contacts with councils and by checking planning documents. But if there are any inaccuracies or misinterpretations, we will be happy to amend data.