Social sector new housebuilding

Social sector housing consists of local authority and housing association which has accounted for just under a third (28%) of all new build homes completed over the 12 months to the end of September 2023.

Chart 8 shows the number of local authority and housing association homes started and completed each year to end September.

Annual levels of local authority starts and completions have shown a broadly increasing trend over time since 2009, although starts and completions have both decreased in the most recent year 2023.

Housing association trends have shown a different picture, with levels of starts dropping across the 2009 to 2011 period before levels started to increase after 2015, peaking in 2018 before decreasing to levels below 2010 in 2023. Levels of housing association completions dropped between 2009 and 2014 and remained at this lower levels until 2017 after which levels have increased up to the latest year 2023 aside from a drop in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Chart 8: Latest annual social sector new build completions figures to end September 2023 show increases on the previous year for housing association completions, with housing association and local authority starts as well as completions decreasing

A total of 1,555 social sector new build homes were completed between July to September 2023, a decrease of 27% (564 homes) on the same quarter in 2022. This brings the total completions for the 12 months to end September 2023 to 6,115, a decrease of 12% (864 homes) on the 6,979 social sector new build homes completed in the previous year.

Meanwhile, 924 social sector new build homes were started between July to September 2023. This is 29% (372 homes) lower than the same quarter the previous year. This brings the total for the 12 months to end September 2023 to 3,292, a decrease of 41% (2,243 homes) on the 5,535 social sector homes started in the same period in 2022.

Maps C and D below show the rates of housing association and local authority new build completions in each local authority area for the year to end September 2023 per 10,000 of the population.

Note that the housing stock of 6 local authorities (Argyll & Bute, Dumfries & Galloway, Glasgow, Inverclyde, Na h-Eileanan Siar and Scottish Borders) has been transferred to housing associations and so these areas do not build new local authority houses.

In the year to end September 2023 local authority sector new build rates were highest in East Ayrshire, East Lothian, Highland, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire, and with all having rates of over 4 homes per 10,000 population.

As well as the 6 stock transfer authorities mentioned above, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Orkney, Shetland Islands and West Dunbartonshire built no new local authority sector homes in the year ending September 2023.

Meanwhile rates of housing association new build completions were highest in Argyll & Bute, Inverclyde, Midlothian, Na h-Eileanan Siar, North Ayrshire, Orkney, Shetland Islands, South Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, all having rates of over 12 homes per 10,000 population.

Aberdeen City, Angus, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, Falkirk, Moray and South Lanarkshire, all had a rate less than 4 housing association homes per 10,000 population.

Map C: New build housing – Local Authority Sector completions: rates per 10,000 population, year to end September 2023.

Map D: New build housing – Housing Association Sector completions: rates per 10,000 population, year to end September 2023.

Charts 9 and 10 along with Table 5 show the latest quarterly figures for housing associations and local authorities to end September 2023.

Chart 9: Housing association new housebuilding starts and completions by quarter.

Chart 10: Local authority new housebuilding starts and completions by quarter.

Table 3: Social sector new housebuilding to end September 2023

Note in the table above that new housebuilding starts and completions in April to June 2020 were affected by the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown measures that were in place during that quarter.