Beyond Deptford

How private renting overtook council housing in London

Housing tenure in Greater London, 1981 to 2021 A 100 per cent ribbon chart showing household tenure in Greater London at five censuses from 1981 to 2021.

Data: GLA Historical Census Tables, 2021

In 1981, nearly a third of London households rented from councils, while 15.1% rented privately. Forty years later, the pattern had almost reversed: council renting had fallen from 30.7% to 12.1%, while private renting had doubled to 30.0%. The privatisation of council housing in the 1980s helped push home ownership up for a time, but by 2021 its share was close to where it had started. Across London, though, boroughs followed very different paths.

Westminster: private renting stayed dominant

Housing tenure in Westminster, 1981 to 2021 A 100 per cent ribbon chart showing household tenure in Westminster at five censuses from 1981 to 2021.

Westminster was already dominated by private renting in 1981, when 36.1% of households rented privately, more than any other category. By 2021, that had risen to 43.3%. Over the same period, council renting fell from 29.2% to 13.1%, while home ownership remained below 30%.

Richmond: owner occupation barely moved

Housing tenure in Richmond upon Thames, 1981 to 2021 A 100 per cent ribbon chart showing household tenure in Richmond upon Thames at five censuses from 1981 to 2021.

In Richmond, home ownership barely moved: 62.4% of households owned their homes in 1981, compared with 63.1% in 2021. What changed was renting. Council renting shrank from 14.7% to just 2.3%, while private renting grew from 18.6% to 24.7%. Housing associations also became much more important, rising from 2.7% to 9.8%.

Tower Hamlets: council housing gave way to a mixed market

Housing tenure in Tower Hamlets, 1981 to 2021 A 100 per cent ribbon chart showing household tenure in Tower Hamlets at five censuses from 1981 to 2021.

Tower Hamlets started at the other extreme. In 1981, 82% of households rented from the council and only 4.6% owned their homes. By 2021, private renting had become the biggest category at 38.2%. Council renting had fallen to 13.9%, housing associations had risen to 22%, and home ownership to 25.7%.

Check your council

Choose an area to see its own path from 1981 to 2021.

Housing tenure in Greater London, 1981 to 2021 A 100 per cent ribbon chart showing household tenure in Greater London at five censuses from 1981 to 2021.

Data: GLA Historical Census Tables, 2021

Data and methodology: Data source: Greater London Authority Historical Census Tables, Table 12: Tenure of households. Shares are calculated from household counts for the 1981, 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021 censuses.

→ See more London data visualisations

Elia Kabanov

References
  1. Historical Census Tables. Greater London Authority.

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