Local Authority Average Rents

Amount charged weekly by Local Authorities for social housing.
Rents data are based on the financial year.

Stock figures used to estimate the average for each county, region and the nation are taken at 1st April of the following financial year. Average rents data between 2003/04 and 2007/08 inclusively is based on total stock figures from Housing Revenue Account (HRA) audited base claim form. Before 2003/04 the average rents data is based on total stock figures from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) second subsidy claim form.

Rents data for 2008/09 are based on total stock figures as at the beginning of the financial year. This data is taken from the HRA subsidy base data form. Average rent data for this year are provisional and will be updated when stock data at the start of the following financial year become available.

For a few authorities no rent figure is given because the stock is now very small and the authority no longer reports average rents. For some local authorities the average rent for 2003/04 is lower than in 2002/03. This may be due to some local authorities supplying net rents excluding service charges from 2003/04 onwards. Prior to 2003/04 some of them may have been including service charges in their rent figures. Average rent figures do not account for stock composition.

'LSVT': all or most of the local authority stock has been transferred to the RSL sector, so the average rent is no longer applicable. LSVTs are not taken into account when calculating county, regional or national averages. MYT (Mid-Year Transfer) refers to those authorities that have transferred their stock in full, part way through the financial year.

Where a local authority has transferred part of it's stock mid-year, the stock figure used to estimate averages is taken as at 1st April the following financial year. MYT information is provided from 2003/04 onwards only. Prior to 2003/04 average rents figures may be based on stock figures at the start of the financial year prior to any mid-year transfer.

The districts, unitary authorities and counties listed above are based on 1 April 1998 boundaries. Figures for any 'new' re-organised areas have been estimated retrospectively applying the new boundaries back to 1996. Average rents data for 2003/04 and onwards are based on a standardised 52 week collection. Data prior to 2003/04 may have been reported on various different collection scales. Average rent is calculated from stock-owning local authorities that have provided data.

View Live Tables on Rents and Tenancies on DCLG website