Who is allocated a social home?

22 June 2026

This briefing draws on government lettings data to create a picture of who currently gets access to social housing in England.

We provide a summary of how social homes are allocated in the appendix.

Looking across the households who accessed a social letting in the year 2024/25, we can see that:

Nearly 44% are working-age single people.
Just under 28% are families with children (either single or dual parent).
Just over a third have come from other social housing.
More than 28% were statutorily homeless prior to receiving their social letting.
More than 40% are either in or actively seeking work.
Nearly 60% are in receipt of either Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit.
Nearly 89% are of UK national identity.
Just over 11% include somebody with a disability or access-related housing need.