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07 Aug 2026

What is social housing: The ultimate guide

In the UK, social housing is rented accommodation provided by a social landlord, usually a housing association, a local authority, arms length management organisation (ALMO), or in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

There are rules on who can apply for social housing, and priority depends on your local area. Generally, social housing is prioritised for people with specific needs or on low incomes, and the rent is lower than open market rates. It provides the most affordable and secure long-term housing tenancy option for residents. Depending on the area concerned, those who apply may have to show a local connection or meet residence requirements.

In this guide we break down:

Who controls the level and cost of housing in the UK?

Housing is a devolved policy area; this means that while the UK Government has powers that affect housing in England, individual governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland take different decisions for their respective nations, leading to some differences across the UK in how housing is legislated for and experienced.

What’s the difference between social housing and affordable housing?

Social housing is one element of affordable housing, which includes other housing types:

  • Social homes are provided at the lowest, discounted rents. They are allocated according to housing need (such as through waiting list priority) and managed by social landlords.
  • Affordable housing includes schemes designed for people more generally who struggle to buy or rent on the open market, or who have insufficient priority for social housing. It focuses on discounted options such as mid-market rent in Scotland, co-ownership and intermediate rent in Northern Ireland, or shared ownership and affordable rent in England and Wales. 

How many homes are available as social and affordable housing? 

According to the latest UK Housing Review around 17% of homes across the UK (5.2 million) are let by social landlords, of which the vast majority are social housing. Around 80,000 new affordable homes are delivered each year across the UK, of which up to 30% are for social rent.

How many are on waiting lists? 

All parts of the UK have housing waiting lists through which people may apply for housing: they are run by local councils, or in Northern Ireland by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. In mid-2026, the numbers of households on lists were (in round figures) 1.4 million (England), 94,000 (Wales), 180,000 (Scotland) and 50,000 (Northern Ireland).

Who is eligible for social housing?

Across the UK, applicants must meet basic legal criteria – such as minimum age limits and immigration status – to apply for social housing. Depending on the nation, local rules may also apply on application; for example, authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland variously require local connection links to the area. Local authorities are also required to create allocation schemes that prioritise certain applicant categories such as those fleeing domestic abuse. 

Official data shows that around 90% of new social housing tenancies are awarded to UK nationals. People seeking asylum are legally barred from applying for social housing entirely. For the rules that apply on eligibility for social housing for different categories of migrant, see the Housing Rights website.

How is social housing applied for and allocated?

As well as housing being devolved to a national level, the housing allocation process is also devolved to a local authority level in England, Scotland and Wales. It stays at a nation level in Northern Ireland with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE).

Applicants must join their local authority or NIHE waiting list where they will be prioritised based on their situation; for example, someone who is homeless would be a higher priority than someone living at home safely with parents. Allocations are then made to homes based on priority and need.

Many social landlords across the UK operate a choice-based letting system, which means instead of being automatically allocated by the landlord to a suitable property, homes available to let are published to all applicants to ‘bid’, essentially this is about expressing an interest in a home. From here, the landlord will allocate based on priority need applicants based on all suitable interested bidders.

Some areas operate common housing registers where a person can make one application to multiple landlords, and in other areas having to apply directly to individual landlords. All social landlords must have an allocations policy setting out how applicants will be prioritised for housing. These can differ to reflect local pressures and priorities but must follow certain legal requirements, e.g. prioritising people who have medical needs and are living in unsuitable accommodation and homeless households. 

How long does is take to get social housing?

Due to the housing crisis and having over a million households waiting for a home across the UK, the waiting times for some people on the list can be several years. In the interim, most people move into the private rented sector, stay with family or, in the most urgent cases of homelessness, get housed in what should be temporary accommodation.

Can you move when in social housing?

When you take on a social housing tenancy, you are able to request to move home when your circumstances change. This can be done either by the standard lettings process, or via a mutual exchange with another social housing tenant, possibly from another landlord. In basic terms, this means swapping homes and tenancy agreement with another tenant.

What services do social landlords provide?

As well as the standard housing services that you’d find in the private sector, such as repairs and maintenance, social housing providers are usually also providing a level of additional support services, such as supported housing services for those with additional needs, sheltered housing and older persons independent living housing, mental health and wellbeing support, financial wellbeing support, to name just a few. 

The cutting of these services from third party providers over the last decade has meant a growing need being met by social landlords.

What’s the difference between housing associations, council housing, ALMOs, and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive?

  • Council housing is owned and managed directly by local authorities.
  • ALMO stands for Arms-Length Management Organisation. An ALMO is a company that is set up and owned by the council (only found in England) to manage and improve all or part of its housing stock. ALMOs are led by a board typically consisting of a third councillors, a third tenants and a third independent experts.
  • Housing associations (also known as registered providers and registered social landlords) are not-for-profit organisations providing subsidised housing for people on low incomes. They may have their own allocation criteria to decide who lives in their homes, or they may use a local authority allocation process. 
  • The Northern Ireland Housing Executive manages social housing across Northern Ireland. It owns, manages and allocates housing across the whole nation. While housing associations also operate in Northern Ireland, applicants would go through NIHE no matter who would end up being their landlord.
  • In England, there is a small but growing number of for-profit housing associations which get their funding from investors such as pension funds or private equity. Although able to make a profit for their investors, they are regulated and rents are set in the same way as other social housing. 

How is social housing funded?

As housing is devolved, each nation’s housing funds are different. However, there are some common characteristics:

  • Social landlords’ main income is the rent they collect from their tenants. Social housing is not subsidised directly by the taxpayer (except for tenants getting benefits, just as they would in private renting). The funding of council housing is managed separately from their other services as local authorities through their Housing Revenue Accounts.
  • Rent levels are set by social landlords but in England and Wales they have to observe government restrictions on the level of rent increases. Rents set by housing associations – which generally have newer homes – are generally higher than those set by councils (or, in Northern Ireland, the Housing Executive).
  • To build new homes, social landlords may get government grant. But most of the cost of providing new homes comes from borrowing against their existing assets, which in the case of housing associations comes from private sources such as banks and building societies. Social landlords may also recycle money from selling homes (e.g. through shared ownership schemes).
  • Except in Northern Ireland, new homes or land on which to build them may also be supplied through contributions by developers when they build market sale housing.
  • Some wider housing services such as assisting people facing homelessness or managing conditions in the private rented sector are funded separately by local authorities and are taxpayer subsidised. 

You can find more detail about the funding of social housing across the UK in Commentary Chapter 4 of the annual UK Housing Review.

England

New affordable housing in England is supported by a 10-year Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP), which provides grant funding, and some other mechanisms like the low-cost loans (provided by National Housing Bank) and through guarantee schemes. 

Homes England is the government’s housing and regeneration agency. It allocates grant funding through the SAHP outside London, liaising with stakeholders to ensure the quality and sustainability of developments and communities. In London, a similar role is carried out by the Greater London Authority. 

Wales

In Wales, affordable housing supply is funded through similar ways to England, with grants available to housing associations and local authorities (covering around half the costs of new development). There are also specific funding programmes, e.g. to integrate health, housing and social services.

Scotland

Funding for new build social housing in Scotland is provided through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, managed mostly by the Scottish Government but with funding for Edinburgh and Glasgow passed on to the local authorities to manage directly. Grant levels vary between projects and housing associations tend to be awarded higher levels than local authorities. 

The latest figures from 2023/24 show that housing associations received an average grant of 62% for each social home delivered compared to 44% for local authorities. The rest of the development cost is paid for through borrowing. This debt along with day to day running costs are paid for through rental income. 

The Scottish Government may also make funding available to support improvements to homes such as the Social Housing Net Zero Fund.  

Northern Ireland

Housing associations are the sole providers of new-build social housing in Northern Ireland, with new development funded through a mix of public grant and private borrowing. Public funding – provided as Housing Association Grant (HAG) through NIHE’s Social Housing Development Programme – covers around 46% of costs.

NIHE manages and maintains existing public homes rather than building new ones. Its landlord services are self-financing, funded primarily through rental income from its tenants, alongside house sales and specific government grants. 

Do social landlords make money?

In simple terms, no. In most cases, any surplus a social landlord makes is reinvested in building new homes, improving homes, or making improvements to local communities. There are some for-profit social housing providers, but numbers are small and restricted to England.

However, because housing associations are partly funded by banks and building societies, they must make sure they always have sufficient income to avoid breaching their loan covenants. This can make it look like landlords have more money to invest than they really do. There are also strict regulatory rules intended to prevent housing associations from getting into financial difficulties.

Who regulates social housing?

Across the UK, each nation has its own regulator to represent tenants’ and the public’s interests. They are responsible for monitoring and measuring the performance of housing providers by annual or regular reporting against the frameworks in each nation:

  • England: Regulator of Social Housing (RSH)
  • Wales: Welsh Government's housing regulation team
  • Scotland: Scottish Housing Regulator 
  • Northern Ireland: Housing Regulation Branch within the Department for Communities (DfC) for housing associations and directly by DfC for NIHE.

Regulation aims to protect tenants and maintain a healthy, viable sector capable of delivering homes to meet regional needs. Where an association is not meeting expectations, the regulator can increase its engagement or intervene to bring performance back up to standard.

Who can tenants complain to?

Across the UK, complaints must first be received and follow the landlord’s own complaints procedure. These are monitored and measured by the relevant ombudsman for each nation. If not resolved, tenants are able to escalate their complaint to the following depending on their location:

  • England: Housing Ombudsman Service for landlord-tenant disputes and by the Local Government Ombudsman Service for complaints about homelessness services, waiting lists, allocation schemes
  • Wales: Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
  • Scotland: Scottish Public Service Ombudsman 
  • Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO).

What’s the difference between social housing and the private rented sector?

Due to a shortage of available social housing and because house prices for purchase have risen so much, more people are being pushed into the private rented sector to live. This is where independent landlords own property to let at standard market rates.

Due to the higher rents, many people, including many who work full time, need to claim help with their housing costs, such as Universal Credit.

Can you buy a social house?

In 1980, Margaret Thatcher’s government introduced the Right to Buy scheme. This enabled eligible households to purchase their council house at a highly discounted rate. Nearly three million homes across the UK have been sold since the 1980s on the scheme (or equivalent schemes, and later versions for housing associations such as Right to Acquire and Preserved Right to Buy). 

Although policies have varied over time, most of the money made from the sales was returned to central government rather than being available to replace social housing with new housebuilding, and so the number of social homes rebuilt were not in line with those sold, which has led to the growing housing crisis across the UK and decrease of around 1.6 million social homes in the UK since 1980.

Right to Buy has ceased in Wales and Scotland and eligibility criteria have been tightened in England. In Northern Ireland the similar House Sales Scheme now applies only to NIHE tenants, with proposals currently underway to tighten eligibility and restrict certain property sales to protect remaining homes.

As well as being able to purchase previously social rented homes, over the years different governments have had low-cost or affordable homeownership offers such as shared ownership, which enables buyers to part rent and part own.

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