Private rented sector continues to grow in Southampton and accross the UK

Owner-occupation dips again in England

Only 65 per cent of the 22m households in England are now owner-occupied; 18 per cent are privately rented and 17 per cent live in housing association or council flats or houses.

The figures, from the latest findings from the English Housing Survey, apply to 2012-13 but represent the smallest proportion of owner-occupiers since the 1980s. 

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the proportion of private sector households was around 10 per cent but it has nearly doubled in the past decade; the private rented sector accounted for 4m households in 2012-13 with social rented at 3.7m households.

Some 18 per cent of households buying with a mortgage were aged below 35 compared with 21 per cent five years earlier. 

In 2012-13, the average mortgage payment was £149 per week although payments differed markedly depending on the type of mortgage; interest-only holders were paying an average of £120 per week compared with £154 for those with repayment mortgages. Of the 14.3m households that were owner occupiers, there were 7.2 million with mortgages.

As always the EHS also provides a random selection of other barometers for England’s housing - its condition, level of overcrowding, energy-efficiency and the like. Here are some key facts:

- Some three per cent of households in England were overcrowded in 2012-13;

- Two-thirds of social renters had waited less than a year before being allocated a home;

- Sixty one per cent of private renters and 23 per cent of social renters stated that they expected to buy a property at some point in the future;

- The energy efficiency of the English housing stock continued to improve, with the largest increases in energy effectiveness seen in private rented and local authority sectors;

- The number of ‘non-decent’ (very poor condition) homes in England continued to decline. In 2012, 4.9 million dwellings - equivalent to 22 per cent - failed to meet the decent homes standard, a reduction of some 2.8 million homes since 2006;

- Between 2002-03 and 2012-13, the proportion of households with a working smoke alarm increased from 76 per cent to 88 per cent; 

- Just over half of homes built after 2002 had one or two bedrooms compared with 37 of older homes; 24 per cent of homes built after 2002 had three bedrooms compared with 43 per cent of older homes. Private rented

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