Affordable housing provision: April 2020 to March 2021

Main points

• 3,603 additional affordable housing units were delivered across Wales (a). This is a 22% increase on the 2,942 units delivered in the previous year and the 2020-21 figure is the highest annual total to date.
• An additional 82 housing units were delivered under the Rent to own – Wales (b) scheme introduced in February 2018.
• Registered Social Landlords delivered 84% of all additional affordable housing provision (3,018 units).
• 70% of affordable housing units were delivered with capital grant funding.

(a) The figures cover all additional affordable housing units, whether through new build, purchases, acquisition, leasing or conversion of existing dwellings. They do not take account of any loss of affordable housing stock through demolitions or sales during the year.
(b) Rent to Own - Wales units do not conform to the TAN 2 definition of affordable housing and as such have not been included in the total additional affordable housing figure shown in this release. The figures do however contribute to the affordable homes target (see the section below).

Measuring progress on the Welsh Government commitment to deliver an extra 20,000 affordable homes during 2016-21

The Welsh Government’s 2016 work programme ‘Taking Wales Forward 2016 -2021’ included a commitment to deliver an extra 20,000 affordable homes during 2016-21. This commitment included supporting the construction of more than 6,000 homes through the Help to Buy scheme.

Totals from three statistical series contribute to measuring this target.

1. Affordable housing, as defined in Technical Advice Note (TAN) 2: from 2016-17 to 2020-21, 13,999 additional affordable housing units were delivered across Wales.
2. ‘Rent to Own – Wales’ scheme: from February 2018 to March 2021, 187 additional units were delivered under this scheme.
3. ‘Help to Buy – Wales’ scheme: from April 2016 to March 2021, 8,875 purchases have been made under this scheme.

Considering the three statistical series described above, just over 23,000 affordable homes were delivered between April 2016 and March 2021, exceeding the 20,000 affordable homes target for the period.

In June 2021, Welsh Government announced the commitment to deliver 20,000 new low-carbon homes for rent in the social sector as part of the 2021-26 Programme for Government. Initial progress in achieving that commitment will be detailed in the next statistical release in this series, provisionally planned for publication in Autumn 2022.