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Four in 10 people renting privately have no expectation of owning their own home. Photograph: Alamy
Four in 10 people renting privately have no expectation of owning their own home. Photograph: Alamy

Eight fascinating facts from the English housing survey

This article is more than 10 years old
Home ownership is down and private rent is up, but what else is there to learn from the latest release of housing statistics?
Home ownership in England falls to lowest level in 25 years

More people are now renting privately than socially

The number of households renting from a private landlord (4 million) overtook those renting from a council or housing association (3.7 million) for the first time.

Despite another decrease in the number of people owning their own home, which has been falling steadily since 2006 (and proportionally since 2003), England remains a nation of home owners with 14.3 million owning their homes. Though the proportion of home owners (65.2%) is at its lowest point since 1987.


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Four in 10 private renters have no expectation of owning a home

In the growing private rented sector, four in 10 renters do not expect to ever buy a house. Of those who do, 44% expect to be waiting more than five years to be able to afford it.

For those renting from councils and housing associations, the figure is almost eight in 10.


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Private sector rents have stabilised

The median weekly rent in the private rented sector remained at £138 for a second year. Housing association and council tenants experienced median annual rent increases of £6 and £4 respectively.


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More social tenants are receiving housing benefit

The percentage of social tenants receiving housing benefit for help with their housing costs continues to go up. Now 65.6% of those housed by councils or housing associations are in receipt of housing benefit, up from 64% last year and 59.1% in 2009.


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But proportionally fewer private renters receive housing benefit

A quarter of people renting privately receive housing benefit, down 0.5% from last year's figures, though still a lot more than the 19.5% claiming housing benefit in 2009.


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More working families depend on housing benefit

A third (32.2%) of working households in social housing receive housing benefit, up from just 20% in 2009-10. In the private rented sector, 12% of working tenants now claim housing benefit to help them meet their housing costs.


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Housing associations are the largest social housing provider

For the 3.7m households renting social homes in England, the majority (54.3%) of social housing is provided by housing associations, with council homes making up the remainder (45.7%).


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Damp is a far more common problem in privately rented homes

Nearly one in 10 (9.3%) privately rented homes has a problem with damp, more than twice the average across all house types (4.3%). Owner occupied homes have the least instances of damp (2.6%), followed by housing association properties (4.4%) and council housing (6.5%).


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