Housing supply (including affordable) across the UK

All-sector housing supply across the UK countries

Chart 10 presents trends in the rates of all-sector new housebuilding completions per 10,000 population across each of the UK countries on a financial year basis (years to the end March).

Please note that the most comprehensive measure for England’s housing supply is the year ‘net additional dwellings' series, rather than the indicative indicators of activity published in the quarterly new build statistics.

Chart 10: UK New housebuilding completions as a rate per 10,000 population, 2007-08 to 2024-25 (years to the end March)

Scotland built more homes per 10,000 population in 2024-25 compared with all other parts of the UK, as Chart 10 shows. In Scotland the completions rate was 35 per 10,000 people, England was 33 per 10,000 people, Northern Ireland was 32 per 10,000 people, and Wales was 15 per 10,000 people.

Housebuilding rates increased in the latest period (between 2023-24 and 2024-25) in Northern Ireland (13%) and decreased in Scotland (-4%), Wales (-4%) and England (-5%).

Affordable housing delivery across UK countries

Whilst definitions and the delivery of affordable housing differs across the UK, comparisons can be made considering these differences by financial year per 10,000 population.

Chart 11 below illustrates how affordable housing delivery per 10,000 population have varied on a financial year basis across the 2007-08 to 2024-25, period by UK country.

Chart 11: Affordable housing delivery across the UK as a rate per 10,000 population 2007-08 to 2024-25 (years to end March).

In 2024-25, the 7,443 affordable homes delivered in Scotland equates to a rate of 13.4 homes delivered per 10,000 population. There were 2,301 affordable homes delivered in Northern Ireland, equating to 11.9 homes per 10,000 people, 64,762 home were delivered in England, equating to 11.0 homes per 10,000 people and 3,660 homes in Wales equating to 11.5 per 10,000 people.

The number of affordable homes delivered varied across the UK. The only decrease (between 2023-24 and 2024-25) was reported in Scotland (-21.8%; -2,071. There were increases in Wales (12.4%; 405), England (0.6%, 411) and in Northern Ireland (4.1%, 91).

Accounting for the population, the rates decreased between 2023-24 and 2024-25 in Scotland (-22.3%), stayed similar in England (-0.5%) and increased in Wales (+11.8%) and in Northern Ireland (+3.7%).

Between 2007-08 and 2024-25, the annual average supply of affordable housing per head of population in Scotland has been 14.4 homes per 10,000 population, 69% higher than Wales (8.6 homes per 10,000 population), 45% higher than England (9.9 homes per 10,000 population) and 16% higher than Northern Ireland (12.4 homes per 10,000 population – average across the years 2010-11 to 2021-22).

Across the UK there are differences in the use of affordable housing products within the mix of overall affordable housing delivery in each country. For example, in 2024-25, in England, there has been a greater delivery of affordable rent housing (4.0 per 10,000 people) compared with Scotland (2.1 per 10,000 people). Scotland (10.8 per 10,000 people) has a greater delivery of social rent housing compared with England (2.1 per 10,000 people).