Dwelling stock by tenure
Lancashire-12 results
The 2022 results indicate a total dwelling stock of 564,240 for the Lancashire-12 area, of which, 87.7% was owner occupied or privately rented. This was above the England average of 83.2%, and is because Lancashire has much less accommodation in local authority ownership than the national average. Only Lancaster (5.5%) and West Lancashire (11.3%) had large numbers of dwellings within this category. For 2022 Chorley had fewer than 90 local authority owned dwellings, Burnley had 40, while Hyndburn, Rossendale, Ribble Valley and Pendle had just 33 between them. Fylde, Preston, South Ribble and Wyre had none
All of the Lancashire-12 authorities had over 80% of their dwellings in the owner-occupied and privately rented sector, and in Fylde, Lancaster, Ribble Valley and Wyre the figure was 90% or over.
Registered social landlords accounted for over 10% of dwellings in seven Lancashire-12 local authorities and in the county itself. These included Preston where 18.6% of dwellings were of this tenure, highest in Lancashire-12 and joint highest in the Lancashire-14 area. This meant that this authority had the lowest percentage in the Lancashire-12 and Lancashire-14 areas for the owner occupied and privately rented sector.
Lancashire-14 results
In 2022 the whole Lancashire-14 area had a total dwelling stock of 699,832 of which 87.4% was owner occupied or privately rented. This was also above the England average. In Blackpool 90.1% of the dwelling stock was owner-occupied and privately rented, while in Blackburn with Darwen the percentage was only 81.4, the second lowest in the Lancashire-14 area. Conversely, Blackburn with Darwen had the joint highest percentage of stock in the registered social landlord sector in the whole Lancashire-14 area at 18.6%. The percentage of dwelling stock in Blackpool owned by the local authority was 6.5%, just a little above the England percentage (6.3%).
The total number of dwellings has increased in all of the Lancashire local authorities since 2021, when the Lancashire-12 figure stood at 558,993. The number of dwellings in Preston (64,620) appears to have fallen from the total shown in last year's article (65,756), but by using statistics from the 2021 Census table LT_100 has been rebased, so the 2021 figures were revised, with Preston's total being revised down to 63,556.
Dwelling stock by tenure, 2022 (Table scrolls left to right)
Source GOV.UK website, live tables on dwelling stock, Table 100
A dwelling is defined as a self contained unit of accommodation: when all the rooms (including the kitchen, bathroom and toilet) are behind a door which only that household can use.
Private-sector data on rental levels in Lancashire
The Zoopla website is said to be a leading UK market resource for properties to sale or rent. The website has a current values section (go to browse property current values by area option) that contains the Lancashire results within the North West England option. By clicking on the Lancashire option, details are revealed for the average sale prices and rental levels for a large number of towns in the county. Please also see the data page for Lancashire that includes the current price breakdown by property type and the average property rental price.
Social housing
Homes England is the national housing and regeneration agency for England. It works with local partners to create new affordable homes and thriving neighbourhoods. There is now a separate Regulator of Social Housing, but the two bodies were previously combined and known as the Homes and Communities Agency.
The government publishes details of current registered providers of social housing. The list includes a selection of organisations that have an address within Lancashire-14. A number are sub-sections of larger groups, whilst others target particular age cohorts such as the elderly. The list includes the Progress Housing Group and Ribble Valley Homes, now part of Onward Homes Limited. Other organisations that do not have a Lancashire address will however have social housing sites in the county, or incorporate sub-groups in Lancashire that are independently listed as providers. For instance, the Together Housing Group has a Halifax address but covers Pendle, Blackburn with Darwen, Rossendale, Ribble Valley, South Ribble and Preston.
The Regenda Group website states that the organisation has around 3,500 properties in Lancashire. The find a home to rent page highlights the fact that the group has a substantial presence in Wyre district.
Page updated May 2023.