UK HOUSING REVIEW 2023

The Chartered Institute of Housing is delighted to present this 31st edition of the UK Housing Review. First published in 1993 by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation as the Housing Finance Review, CIH has taken the lead responsibility since 1999. Steve Wilcox was editor from 1993 to 2018. Mark Stephens of the University of Glasgow is the current editor.

The UK Housing Review chart of English housing ministers since the first, Aneurin Bevan, which is on the inside front cover, shows that - with the recent appointment of Rachel Maclean - there have been five different ministers in the past year. As the Financial Times recently commented, 'the scale of ministerial upheaval is entirely at odds with the need for long-term thinking' on housing policy.

Contemporary Issues and Commentary Chapters

After the Executive Summary, the Review opens with Contemporary Issues Chapters which analyse current topics. Mark Stephens uses the first chapter to provide an overview of housing's role in the UK economy, including its role in 'levelling up'. In the second, Kenneth Gibb of the University of Glasgow takes a UK-wide view of developments in the private rented sector. In the third, Steve Partridge of Savills offers an analysis of the changing role of private finance in affordable housing provision, including the huge potential for more equity investment. The fourth chapter, by journalist Jules Birch, is a review of quality issues in social housing and changes in the regulatory regimes that have resulted from recent tragedies and well-publicised complaints.

The six Commentary Chapters in Section 2 discuss key developments in policy, financial provision and outputs, drawing partly from the main Compendium of Tables. Of this year's series, Mark Stephens wrote Chapter 1, John Perry and Annie Owens (then of CIH) wrote Chapter 2 and Peter Williams wrote Chapter 3. John Perry wrote Chapter 4. Chapter 5 was written by Lynne McMordie of Heriot-Watt University. Chapter 6 was written jointly by Sam Lister of CIH and Mark Stephens.

The Review's Compendium of Tables

The Review's Section 3 again draws together a huge volume of data about public and private housing in the United Kingdom into an accessible format. Our data team, led by Gillian Young and assisted by Alan Lewis, have updated as many as possible of the tables although many official statistics are still delayed by the pandemic. Where possible, updates will be made to coincide with publication of the Review's Autumn Briefing Paper.

The Review's Compendium of Tables draws on a wide range of expenditure plans, departmental reports, statistical series and other sources, acknowledged against each table. Several tables are constructed from statistical sources and models not routinely published elsewhere.

Many tables provide data over a long time-series, at five-year intervals for earlier periods then with annual data for more recent years. Time periods vary, depending on data availability and the practicality of setting out data on a single page. Older versions of most tables can be found on the Review's website. Table numbering may have changed if they have been revised: this is indicated in the edition where the change took place.

As well as covering the four UK administrations, the Review contains many tables covering the regions of England, in some cases providing regional breakdowns in cases where official figures no longer provide them. Some tables include international comparisons.

Government departments are often restructured or change their names. The notes to each table indicate where older sources of data may be found when the current source has a different name.

Acknowledgements

The Review's annual compilation of statistical data relies on substantial help and guidance from civil servants at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), the Department for Work and Pensions, the Treasury, the Welsh Government, the Scottish Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Office for National Statistics and elsewhere. Assistance is also provided by UK Finance, Homes England, the Greater London Authority, the Regulator of Social Housing and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. Their enormous help in compiling each year's Review is warmly acknowledged. The Review now also features comparative international statistics provided by Eurostat and the European Mortgage Federation.

We are particularly grateful for the collective help from this year's sponsors (see below), without whom the 31st edition (and future editions) would not be published, especially since DLUHC can now only provide important 'support in kind'. It is particularly pleasing that among the sponsors are the Scottish Government, Welsh Government, and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

The University of Glasgow has formal editorial responsibility for the Review, led in this by Professor Mark Stephens. The Review is published by the Chartered Institute of Housing with John Perry as production editor.

While every attempt has been made to check the figures included in the Review and the construction put upon them, the final responsibility for any errors, omissions or misjudgments is that of the authors. The views expressed in the Review are also the responsibility of the respective authors.

Finally, the editorial team welcomes any comments or suggestions on the format and contents of the Review (see contact details below).

March 2023

---

Professor Mark Stephens
Ian Mactaggart Chair in Land, Property and Urban Studies
School of Social & Political Sciences
University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8RT
Email: Mark.Stephens@glasgow.ac.uk

John Perry FCIH
Chartered Institute of Housing
Suites 5-6, Rowan House
Westwood Way
Coventry CV4 8HS
Email: john.perry@cih.org

Dr Peter Williams FCIH
Departmental Fellow, Land Economy
University of Cambridge
19 Silver Street
Cambridge CB3 9EP
Email: consultpwilliams@btinternet.com

Gillian Young
Honorary Professor
Institute for Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh EH14 4AS
Email: young@newhavenresearch.co.uk

---