A survey of councils by Inside Housing to find the biggest 50 council builders shows some telling statistics. 305 councils across England, Wales and Scotland responded to our survey. Between them they completed 10,794 homes in 2023/24. This is a combined total of direct building in the Housing Revenue Account and private council owned companies. The total number of homes completed was down by 10.8% on the previous year. Building by council owned housing companies fell from over 3,000 to just over 1,000.
Inside Housing asks if “the writing is on the wall” for council development companies. Their data suggests that that it might be, or they will play a lesser role that expected. The impetus for setting these companies up was the absence of grant to build council homes, and the hope that they would create revenue for council General Funds to replace disappearing central government grant. If the current government was to increase grant for council to build social rent homes via an HRA, then there would be little or no rationale for such companies. The scale of building by the council owned development companies is puny. Of the top 10, only one built more than 100 homes last year.
Councils building in the HRA build far more social rent homes than either housing associations (only 17.8% of the homes built by the top 50) and council owned companies (only 9.1%). That’s because any borrowing associated with the work is from the Public Works Loans Board, whereas the other two have to borrow at more expensive market rates. However, what stands out like a sore thumb is the fact that only 46% of homes built directly by councils, are social rent. 25% are the (increasingly unaffordable) “affordable rent”, and the rest the more expensive “London Affordable rent” and various forms of ownership.
Of the top ten social rent completions, 6 are Scottish and one Welsh.
These statistics reinforce the case for the campaign by a range of organisations for centrally financed building/acquisition of social rent homes as the key to resolving the housing crisis.
Top 10 biggest landlords, 2023/4
| Council | No of homes | Total completions |
| Birmingham City | 58,372 | Refused FOI |
| Leeds City | 53,402 | 204 |
| Sheffield | 38,470 | 48 |
| Southwark | 37,916 | 557 |
| North Lanarkshire | 36,593 | 335 |
| Fife | 30,908 | 186 |
| Sandwell | 28,139 | 15 |
| Bristol City | 26,766 | 60 |
| South Lanarkshire | 25,483 | 58 |
| Islington | 25,357 | 25 |
Tenure of homes built directly by council
| Tenure | % |
| Social rent | 46.00% |
| Affordable rent | 25.00% |
| Shared ownership | 6.80% |
| London Affordable Rent | 6.80% |
| Market Sales | 6.80% |
| Private rent | 3.80% |
| Mid market rent | 1.20% |
| Temporary accommodation | 1.30% |
| Other low-cost home ownership | 0.40% |
| Not disclosed | 1.90% |
Council owned development companies
| Tenure | % |
| Market sale | 35.50% |
| Affordable rent | 23.50% |
| Social rent | 9.10% |
| Sub-market rent | 6.70% |
| First Homes scheme | 5.70% |
| Shared ownership | 5.60% |
| London Affordable Rent | 2.60% |
| Private rent | 2.60% |
| Temporary accommodation | 2.10% |
| Rent to Buy | 1.20% |
| Not disclosed | 5.40% |
Top 10 completions by council owned housing companies 2023/4
| Council | Completions | Expected completions next five years |
| Woking | 212 | 187 |
| Hertfordshire County | 75 | 523 |
| Wiltshire | 71 | 87 |
| Medway | 70 | 420 |
| Wolverhampton | 65 | 776 |
| Oxford City | 64 | 737 |
| West Lancashire | 50 | 172 |
| Sefton | 39 | N/a |
| Shropshire | 36 | 697 |
| Stockport Metropolitan | 36 | 156 |
Top 10 social rent completions 2023/24
| Council | Total social rent |
| Southwark | 470 |
| Aberdeen City | 381 |
| North Lanarkshire | 335 |
| Cardiff | 241 |
| East Lothian | 209 |
| Fife | 186 |
| Midlothian | 181 |
| Westminster | 162 |
| Aberdeenshire | 150 |
| Welwyn Hatfield | 139 |
Labour Campaign for Council Housing 