INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Chartered Institute of Housing is delighted to present the 34th edition of the UK Housing Review, the key resource for managers, policymakers and academics across the public and private housing sectors. First published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in 1993, CIH has been responsible for producing it since 1999.
The Review's editorial team is led by Mark Stephens of the University of Glasgow, the CIH's John Perry is the production editor and Peter Williams of the University of Cambridge and Gillian Young of Heriot-Watt University are co-members of the team.
In this edition, the Executive Summary is followed by three chapters on contemporary issues and by six chapters of commentary on the current year's statistics. The major part of the Review is the Compendium of Tables; the index to the tables is at the end.
On the inside cover, the Review's chart of English housing ministers shows an unchanged picture after the appointment of the Labour government's Matthew Pennycook in July 2024.
Contemporary Issues and Commentary Chapters
The Review opens with Contemporary Issues Chapters which analyse current topics in depth.
The first chapter is a new analysis of the scale and role of for-profit registered providers of affordable housing in England, by Mark Stephens, Peter Williams and David Gebbie (a chartered surveyor and PhD student at the University of Glasgow). In the second, Emma Baker and Amy Clair (respectively, professor and associate professor at the Australian Centre for Housing Research, Adelaide University) examine the relationship between housing and health. The third is a chapter on new towns by Nick Raynsford, the former minister who until recently was a member of the UK Government’s New Towns Taskforce.
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, CIH's Matthew Scott and John Perry 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, jointly with Gillian Young. Chapter 6 was written by the CIH's Sam Lister.
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, consisting of Gillian Young and Andrew Watson (the latter at the University of Glasgow), have updated as many as possible of the Review's 123 tables. They also keep their format and coverage under scrutiny so as to maintain their usefulness and reliability. Where possible, further updates to the tables will be made to coincide with publication of the Review's Autumn Briefing Paper.
Acknowledgements
The Review's publisher, editors and authors remain indebted to Steve Wilcox, who produced the first edition in 1993 and was editor until 2017. We are pleased that he still keeps a watchful eye on the Review's progress. Lord Richard Best, who commissioned the first edition (then known as the Housing Finance Review) when he was Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, also remains a keen supporter.
The Review's annual compilation of statistical data relies on substantial help and guidance from civil servants at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 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. The Review also features comparative international statistics provided by Eurostat and the European Mortgage Federation.
The enormous help provided by these organisations in compiling the data for each year's Review is warmly acknowledged.
We are also particularly grateful for the collective help from this year's sponsors (listed on the previous page), without whom the 34th edition (and future editions) would not be published. It is particularly pleasing that among the sponsors are the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 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, led in this by John Perry. Jeremy Spencer is the graphic designer and is thanked for his patience and creative contribution to its design and production. The Review's website is managed by Keith Burke.
While every attempt has been made to check the data included in the Review and the construction put upon them, the final responsibility for any errors, omissions or misjudgements 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 2026
Professor Mark Stephens CIHCM
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
