Social renters include households renting either from the council or a housing association.

• Of all social renters, 55% lived in houses, with around a quarter living in semi-detached houses (24%) and just under a third living in terraced houses (30%).

• A higher proportion of social sector tenants lived in purpose built flats and maisonettes than any other tenure group (42% compared with 17% of private renters and 8% of owner occupiers).

• Social sector tenants were more likely to live in houses built between 1945 and 1964 than any other group (35% compared with 20% of owner occupiers and 12% of private renters). In addition council tenants were more than twice as likely as housing association tenants to be housed in properties of this period (41% and 20% respectively) .This reflects the fact that local authority housing construction was at its peak in this period. A further 32% of council tenants lived in accommodation built between 1965 and 1984.

• Almost a third of Housing Association tenants (31%) lived in properties built in 1985 or later, while 14% of owner occupiers and 9% of private renters lived in properties built in this period. These figures reflect the fact that from around 1988, housing associations became responsible for the majority of ‘new starts’ i.e. building of new social rented accommodation.

• Over a quarter of all social sector accommodation consisted of households comprising one adult aged 60 or over (27%)
• Half of lone parent families with dependent children (50%) lived in social rented accommodation compared with 15% of other families with dependent children.

• Those living in social rented housing had on average the lowest income of all households (housing association tenants - £216 gross per week; council tenants - £208 gross per week).