Notes and definitions for rents, lettings and tenancies

For definition of a dwelling, type of dwelling, tenure and general definition of a household see Definition of general housing terms .

Local Authority rents

The average weekly local authority rents are as at April. The figures shown in the tables do not include rates/council tax or any service charges. The dwellings covered are those in the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and thus exclude council tied accommodation etc. New Town dwellings are also excluded.

These overall averages apply to a stock of houses the 'average' quality and composition of which has varied over time as a consequence of new build, stock losses and modernisation programmes.

More detailed information on rents by size and type of dwelling and local authority area is published annually by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) in Housing Rent Statistics.

RSL rents

These data relate to rents charged by Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and are equivalent to the local authority rents data. RSL rents are derived from the Regulatory and Statistical Return that the Tenant Services Authority(TSA) sends out once a year to all RSLs. Although collected at the end of March each year the rents are assumed to have been the prevailing rates from the previous April. Consequently the average RSL rent as at 31 March 2008 might more accurately be described as being the 2007/2008 rent. In contrast the Local Authority figures are the April rents for England and Wales and the September rents for Scotland. Consequently the 2007 LA rents are equivalent to the 2008 RSL rents because they both reflect rents during the financial year 2007/2008.

Allocation of social housing

Local authority lettings

The Housing Act 1996 gave authorities a power to create introductory tenancies for all new tenants, which last for twelve months and convert to secure tenancies upon satisfactory completion of that probationary period. The Act also changed local authorities' statutory homelessness responsibilities (see notes on homelessness below) and any homeless households placed in local authority stock as a discharge of a homelessness duty will generally be given a non-secure tenancy of up to two years. During this time they will be placed on the housing register and be considered for the allocation of a long-term social tenancy. Data collected on allocations since 1997/98 identifies the number of homeless households included within the overall total of new secure tenancies, but does not separately distinguish these within each of the Housing Register and Other categories.

Tenancy types

Private sector tenancies

The most common types of tenancy in the private sector are assured and assured shorthold tenancies and regulated tenancies. Regulated tenancies were the most common form of tenancy up until the end of the 1980s but they have declined in number and are now one of the smaller categories.

Assured and Assured Shorthold tenancies

Part 1 of the Housing Act 1988 de-regulated new lettings from 15 January 1989. The majority of new tenancies on or after that date are, with certain exceptions, assured or assured shorthold. In assured tenancies the rent is a market rent freely negotiated by landlord and tenant, and may be reviewed regularly. An assured shorthold tenancy is for a fixed term of at least six months, at the end of which the landlord is entitled to possession. In other assured tenancies the landlord can only seek repossession on specific grounds (which include non-payment of rent).

Before March 1997, tenants had to be given a notice in writing to say that the tenancy was an assured shorthold otherwise the tenancy was by default assured. From March 1997 the rules changed and all new tenancies were assured shorthold unless the agreement specifically stated that they were not. As a result assured shorthold tenancies are now the most common form of tenancy.

Registered Social Landlords tenancies

From 1 January 1973 the fair rent system was extended to dwellings owned by housing associations registered with the Housing Corporation. From 1 April 1975 certain tenancies (with exceptions) of housing associations not registered with the Housing Corporation became regulated under the Rent Act and have been included in the regulated rather than the housing association statistics.

From 15 January 1989 most new housing association tenancies have been covered by the assured tenancies regime described above.

The best sources for rents by type of tenancy are the Survey of English Housing (SEH) and the earlier Private Renters' Surveys. The Expenditure and Food Survey and the Family Resources Survey can show rents only for the household as a whole. In some households there is more than one tenancy group and they may have different types of tenancy. The SEH also covers lodger tenancies where the lodger forms part of a household which may not itself be a privately renting household.

Resident landlord tenancies are those in bedsitters and flats in converted houses where the landlord lives in the same building. They include lodger tenancies. The categories not accessible to the public include lettings to friends or relatives of the landlord at zero (or very low) rent, lettings that go with a job and college lets. No security tenancies are mainly non-exclusive licenses. Protected Shorthold and Pre-1988 Assured tenancies were arrangements introduced in the 1980 Housing Act which ceased to be available for new lettings after 15 January 1989.

More comprehensive results are in SEH's annual report Housing in England.

The private rent figures by tenancy from the SEH are the mean of figures for two consecutive years. Even after combining two years, sample variability is large and accounts for the apparent erratic changes over time shown.