Surge in number of rented homes

THE number of rented homes has more than doubled in 20 years.

Almost 5.5million households are renting, up 38 per cent from the 3.9million in 2011 and 157 per cent from the 2.1million in 2001, the census has revealed.

Home ownership has fallen from 64.3 per cent in 2011 to 62.5 per cent in 2021 – around 500,000 fewer home-owning households. Analysis by the Office for National Statistics showed that 714,996 people in England and Wales have no central heating. One in ten of them are elderly and ill. Holly Holder, of the Centre for Ageing Better, said: ‘We have among the... least efficient homes in western Europe and often it is older people who have to reside in these sub-par properties.’

The 2021 census also showed those with a second address – such as a holiday home – up from 2.9million a decade ago to 3.2million in 2021.