Private tenants are now spending 36.1% of their average earnings on rent – the highest proportion on record – with the depletion of social housing through Right to Buy identified as the primary cause of the affordability crisis.
Data from the Chartered Institute of Housing, published in a Sky News investigation, shows that while landlord exits and regulatory burdens have contributed to supply shortages, the long-term decline in social housing has had the most significant impact on private rents.
Social housing stock halved since 1980s
The social housing sector has fallen from 31% of all UK households in 1981 to just 17% today. This structural shift has pushed millions of tenants who would previously have rented from councils or housing associations into the private sector, intensifying competition for available homes.
Gavin Smart, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “Right to Buy has been very important in helping people access and buy their own homes. But you can’t have the Right to Buy scheme without also paying attention to the consequences for the social rented sector and for replacing the homes that are lost.”
In the first nine months of 2025-26, approximately 11,000 local authority homes were sold through Right to Buy – equivalent to a projected annual total of 15,000. This compares with just 12,198 social homes built during the latest recorded year, meaning the sector continues to shrink even as demand grows.
This follows Residential Landlord’s February analysis of landlord exits, which found letting agents reporting panic selling ahead of the Renters’ Rights Act. The combination of private landlord departures and social housing depletion has created a supply squeeze that shows few signs of easing.
Market supply still below pre-pandemic levels
While some recent data shows more rental properties on the market than a year ago, supply remains well below pre-pandemic levels.
Tarrant Parsons, head of market research and analysis at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said: “Demand growth from tenants has eased in recent months. Even so, the supply of rental homes remains well below pre-pandemic levels. The RICS survey continues to report negative landlord instructions, indicating a shrinking flow of landlords entering the market.”
He added: “With the Renters’ Rights Act due to take effect in May, there’s a risk that regulatory changes accelerate this decline. With supply unlikely to improve meaningfully soon, tenants in many areas will continue to face significant affordability pressures.”
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “For too long, social homes have been sold off without being replaced, which is why we’re overhauling Right to Buy to better protect housing stock and ensure money from sales is reinvested in new social homes.”
The spokesperson added that the government’s £39 billion investment would deliver “the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation”, while dismissing claims of a landlord exodus due to the Renters’ Rights Act.
Opinion
The data exposes an uncomfortable truth: the private rental market has been forced to absorb decades of social housing policy failures. While landlords face blame for affordability pressures, the fundamental problem is that 14 percentage points of housing demand has shifted from the social sector to private rentals since the 1980s. Until councils can build faster than Right to Buy sells, this pressure will only intensify.
