Social housing delivery up across London – These are the best and worst performing councils

The latest research by London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, has revealed which London councils have put in the best house building performance when it comes to the delivery of local authority funded and housing association homes as a proportion of all homes built.

Benham and Reeves analysed dwellings data for both private enterprise and social housing completions, revealing which councils delivered the highest level of new homes as a percentage of total new homes completed across each borough.

The research shows that across London as a whole, 3,440 homes were delivered by local authorities and the housing association in the last year (2021/22) – a 3% improvement on the previous year (2020/21). In the same year, 14,720 new homes were delivered via the private sector, a 13% drop on the previous year.

Of the total 18,160 new homes delivered across London last year, social housing accounted for 19%, again resulting in a 3% increase on the previous year.

Best performing boroughs

When it comes to the boroughs delivering the highest level of social housing, Harrow tops the table. 67% of all new dwellings completed in the borough last year came via local authority and the housing association.

Hackney also saw more than half of all new homes delivered (57%) come via the social housing sector, with Barking and Dagenham (49%), Ealing (46%), Westminster (45%), Brent (45%), Hillingdon (42%), Havering (40%), Redbridge (25%) and Hounslow (22%) also ranking within the top 10.

Brent has also seen the biggest increase in the level of social housing delivered in the last year. In 2020/21, the borough saw no homes completed via the local authority or housing associations versus 230 new homes coming via the private sector.

In 2021/21, 140 new homes were built by the housing association and local authority, with a further 170 delivered by private enterprise. As a result, social housing accounted for 45% of all homes built in 2021/22 and also marked a 45% increase on the previous year.

Hackney has also seen a sharp uplift, with the proportion of new homes attributed to social housing increasing by 44% in the last year to 57% in total, with Harrow also seeing one of the largest increases (+43%).

Worst performing boroughs

No less than eight areas of London saw no social housing built last year – Camden, Lambeth, Islington, Merton, Richmond, Kingston, Kensington and Chelsea and the City of London.

Richmond, Kingston, Kensington and Chelsea and the City of London also saw no social housing delivered the previous year either.

A further 10 boroughs have also seen an annual decline in the level of social housing delivered, with a total of 16 boroughs also seeing a reduction in social housing as a proportion of all homes built.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:

“The delivery of social housing is a hot topic and it plays a vital role in ensuring we have enough homes to support an ever increasing population, particularly for those who would otherwise struggle to tackle the high cost of renting or owning their own home.

So it’s positive to see that both the level of social housing being built and this total as a proportion of all homes delivered across London has increased over the last year.

However, this has largely been driven by a handful of boroughs, with the rest seeing a decline in social housing delivery, or in the worst cases, none built whatsoever.”

Private, local authority and housing associtation dweelings completions sourced from Gov – Live tables on housing supply