With a shortage of housing for many years in England, and unaffordability continuing to be a neglected issue, Admiral’s analysis reveals that 89% of local authorities failed to complete a single new-build council home by Q3 of 2021.
Other key findings:
Newcastle upon Tyne is the local authority that built the most council homes in England with 160 homes finished by Q3 of 2021, followed by the London Borough of Redbridge with 110 builds and Reading Council in South East England with 90 new council homes.
South East region saw the biggest increase of new homes in 2021.
Wigan is the local authority that saw the biggest decrease in council homes between 2020 and 2021 with 80 council homes built in 2020, and zero in 2021. The South East region saw the biggest increase of new homes in 2021.
In 2021, 28 local authorities, an equivalent of only 9%, started building council homes. Birmingham, in the West Midlands region, is the city with the most council homes started in 2021 with 230 homes, followed by Reading (150 homes) and Barking and Dagenham, in East London (120 homes).
Across all types of housing, nearly 3 in 4 local authorities have built more homes than last year. The local authority with the most homes completed in 2021 is Tower Hamlets in London, followed by Southwark and the Wiltshire Council in South West England.
On the contrary, the local authorities with zero private homes completed in 2021 are Gosport Borough Council, The City of London and Stevenage Council.
The local authorities that built the least council homes in England between 2020-2021 and its decrease
| Rank | Region | Local authorities or unitary authorities | 2020 Total Built | 2021 Total Built | 2021 VS 2021 Difference |
| 1 | North West | Wigan | 80 | 0 | -80 |
| 2 | West Midlands | Sandwell | 70 | 0 | -70 |
| 3 | West Midlands | Wolverhampton | 70 | 40 | -30 |
| 4 | South East | Waverley | 30 | 0 | -30 |
| 5 | London | Greenwich | 30 | 0 | -30 |
| 6 | Yorkshire and The Humber | York UA | 20 | 0 | -20 |
| 7 | West Midlands | Dudley | 40 | 20 | -20 |
| 8 | South East | Thanet | 20 | 0 | -20 |
| 9 | London | Waltham Forest | 20 | 0 | -20 |
| 10 | East of England | Luton UA | 20 | 0 | -20 |
