Housing, energy and the environment: statistics terms explained
Housing tenures, homelessness duties, house building measures, fuel poverty and the emissions accounting behind net zero.
Affordable housing
In English planning policy, a defined set of tenures for people whose needs are not met by the market, including social rent, affordable rent and some low-cost home ownership.
Affordable housing has a specific meaning in planning policy for England. The National Planning Policy Framework defines it as housing for sale or rent for those whose needs are not met by the market, and lists the types that count: social rent, affordable rent and other affordable housing for rent, discounted market sales housing, and other routes to home ownership such as shared ownership.
Why it matters when checking a claim
- "Affordable" is a label, not a test of local incomes. A home can meet the planning definition while costing more than many local households can pay.
- Different tenures are grouped together. A target for "affordable homes" may be met mostly with shared ownership or affordable rent rather than social rent. MHCLG's affordable housing supply statistics break the total down by type.
- Other nations. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own definitions and statistics.
See how many social homes are there and how many homes are built each year.
Also searched as: affordable housing meaning, affordable homes definition, affordable housing uk, NPPF affordable housing
Related: Social rent · Affordable rent · Net additional dwellings · Housing starts and completions · How many social housing homes are there in England? · How many homes are built each year in England? · How many people are on social housing waiting lists?
Affordable rent
A type of social housing in England where rent can be set at up to 80% of the local market rent, including service charges.
Affordable rent is a form of social housing introduced in England in 2011. Councils and housing associations can set rents at up to 80% of the local market rent, including service charges. It is let to households eligible for social housing, and the homes count as affordable housing in planning policy.
Why it matters when checking a claim
- Often much higher than social rent. In high-cost areas, 80% of market rent can be well above a social rent. Grouping the two as "social housing" can hide that difference.
- Conversions. Some existing social rent homes have been re-let at affordable rent, so the number of social rent homes can fall even when total social housing does not.
- Not a general term. In everyday speech "affordable rent" means any rent people can afford; in official statistics it is a defined tenure.
MHCLG's social housing lettings and affordable housing supply statistics report affordable rent separately.
Also searched as: affordable rent meaning, 80% of market rent, affordable rent vs social rent, affordable rented housing
Related: Social rent · Affordable housing · Housing starts and completions · How many social housing homes are there in England? · How much are rents rising in the UK?
Temporary accommodation
Housing that councils provide to homeless households while they wait for a settled home, such as hostels, bed and breakfasts or leased flats.
Temporary accommodation is housing arranged by a council for a homeless household while their case is assessed or while they wait for a settled home. It includes hostels, bed and breakfast hotels, nightly paid rooms, and private homes leased by the council. In England, MHCLG publishes quarterly counts of households in temporary accommodation, including how many children they contain.
Why it matters when checking a claim
- Households, people or children? The headline is usually households; the number of people, and of children, is much larger.
- A snapshot. Figures are a count on the last day of the quarter, not the number placed over a year.
- Not rough sleeping. People in temporary accommodation are homeless under the law but have a roof; rough sleeping is counted separately.
- Each nation counts separately under different laws.
See how many households are in temporary accommodation and how many people are homeless.
Also searched as: TA, temporary accommodation meaning, B&B homeless, temporary housing council
Related: Main housing duty · Social rent · Headcount · How many households are in temporary accommodation in England? · How many people are homeless in England? · How many people sleep rough in England?
Main housing duty
The legal duty on an English council to secure accommodation for a homeless household that is eligible, in priority need and not intentionally homeless.
The main housing duty under section 193 of the Housing Act 1996 requires a council in England to secure accommodation for a household that is homeless, eligible for assistance, in priority need (for example, because it includes children or a vulnerable person) and not intentionally homeless. Since the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, councils first owe a prevention duty to people threatened with homelessness and a relief duty to people already homeless; the main duty applies if relief does not succeed.
Why it matters when checking a claim
- Different stages, different counts. MHCLG statistics report households owed prevention duties, relief duties and the main duty separately. A total of "homeless households" may combine stages.
- Link to temporary accommodation. Households awaiting a decision or owed the main duty are often placed in temporary accommodation.
- England only. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have different homelessness laws.
Also searched as: main homelessness duty, section 193 duty, priority need, prevention and relief duties
Related: Temporary accommodation · Social rent · How many people are homeless in England? · How many households are in temporary accommodation in England?
Net additional dwellings
The annual increase in England's housing stock: new builds plus conversions and changes of use, minus demolitions.
Net additional dwellings is MHCLG's main annual measure of how much England's housing stock has grown. It counts new build completions plus net gains from conversions (such as a house split into flats) and changes of use (such as offices turned into homes), minus demolitions. It is published each year for the financial year to March, nationally and by local authority.
Why it matters when checking a claim
- Not just new builds. It is usually higher than new build completions, because conversions and changes of use add homes.
- Different from quarterly building statistics. Starts and completions are faster but less complete; net additional dwellings is the fuller measure.
- Financial year. Compare with targets set for the same period and measure.
See how many homes are built each year.
Also searched as: net housing supply, housing supply england, net additions, new homes delivered
Related: Housing starts and completions · Affordable housing · Financial year · How many homes are built each year in England? · How many empty homes are there in England?
Housing starts and completions
Quarterly counts of new homes begun and finished, based mainly on building control inspections. Faster than the annual net supply figure but less complete.
Housing starts are new homes on which building work has begun (usually when foundations are laid), and completions are new homes finished and ready to live in. MHCLG publishes quarterly figures for England, based on building control records; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland publish their own.
Why it matters when checking a claim
- Known undercount. Because not all building control bodies report fully, these figures undercount new building compared with net additional dwellings. MHCLG advises using the annual net supply figure as the main measure.
- New build only. They exclude conversions and changes of use.
- Starts are not homes. A pledge measured by starts will show results earlier than one measured by completions.
- Planning permissions are another measure again; a permission does not mean a home will be built.
See how many homes are built each year.
Also searched as: housing completions, house building statistics, new build starts, homes built
Related: Net additional dwellings · Affordable housing · Provisional figures · How many homes are built each year in England?
Net zero
The UK's legal target for 2050: greenhouse gas emissions reduced so far that any remaining emissions are balanced by removals from the atmosphere.
Net zero means that the greenhouse gases a country emits are balanced by those it removes from the atmosphere, for example through forests or carbon capture. The Climate Change Act 2008, as amended in 2019, requires the UK's net emissions account for 2050 to be at least 100% lower than the 1990 baseline. Scotland has its own legal target of net zero by 2045, and Wales has set 2050.
Why it matters when checking a claim
- Net, not zero. Some emissions can remain if they are offset by removals.
- Measured against 1990. Progress claims are usually stated as a percentage cut since 1990 using territorial emissions.
- Interim limits. The legal path to 2050 is set through five-year carbon budgets; the Climate Change Committee reports on progress each year.
- Costs and savings are estimates that depend on assumptions; check which official source and scenario a figure comes from.
See what are UK greenhouse gas emissions.
Also searched as: net zero meaning, net zero 2050, net zero uk, net zero emissions
Related: Carbon budget · Territorial and consumption emissions · Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) · What are UK greenhouse gas emissions? · How much UK electricity comes from renewables?
Carbon budget
A legal cap on the total greenhouse gases the UK can emit over a five-year period, set under the Climate Change Act on the advice of the Climate Change Committee.
A carbon budget is a limit on the total amount of greenhouse gases the UK may emit over a five-year period. Under the Climate Change Act 2008, the government must set each budget in law well in advance, after advice from the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC). The first budget covered 2008 to 2012; later budgets tighten the limit step by step towards net zero in 2050.
Why it matters when checking a claim
- Totals over five years. A single year above the average level does not by itself mean a budget is missed.
- Met so far versus on track. Official statements distinguish budgets already met from whether policies are enough to meet future ones. The CCC's progress reports and the government's delivery plans address the latter.
- Scope. Some earlier budgets excluded international aviation and shipping; later ones include them. Check which gases and sectors a figure covers.
See what are UK greenhouse gas emissions.
Also searched as: carbon budgets uk, carbon budget meaning, seventh carbon budget, Climate Change Committee carbon budget
Related: Net zero · Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) · Territorial and consumption emissions · What are UK greenhouse gas emissions?
Territorial and consumption emissions
Territorial emissions count greenhouse gases produced within the UK. Consumption emissions count those caused by what UK residents buy, wherever in the world they are produced.
Territorial emissions are the greenhouse gases emitted within the UK's borders. They are the basis for the UK's international reporting and its carbon budgets, and are published by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Consumption-based emissions (the UK's carbon footprint) count emissions linked to goods and services consumed in the UK, including those made abroad, and exclude emissions from UK exports. Defra publishes the UK's carbon footprint.
Why it matters when checking a claim
- Different trends. Territorial emissions have fallen faster than consumption emissions, partly because some manufacturing has moved abroad. A claim should say which measure it uses.
- A third basis. The ONS also publishes residence-based emissions in its environmental accounts.
- Time lags. Consumption figures appear later than territorial ones.
See what are UK greenhouse gas emissions.
Also searched as: territorial emissions, consumption emissions, carbon footprint uk, consumption-based emissions
Related: Net zero · Carbon budget · Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) · Per capita (per head) · What are UK greenhouse gas emissions? · How does UK GDP compare with other countries?
Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)
A common unit that converts different greenhouse gases into the amount of carbon dioxide that would cause the same warming.
Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) expresses emissions of different greenhouse gases, such as methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated gases, as the amount of carbon dioxide that would have the same warming effect. Each gas is multiplied by its global warming potential, usually measured over 100 years. UK totals are usually reported in million tonnes of CO2e (MtCO2e).
Why it matters when checking a claim
- CO2 only or all gases? Carbon dioxide alone is lower than total greenhouse gases in CO2e. Sector claims, especially about farming, can change a lot depending on which is used.
- Warming potentials are updated. When international guidance changes the factors, official series are recalculated back to 1990, revising past totals.
- Carbon versus carbon dioxide. Some sources report tonnes of carbon, which is a smaller number than tonnes of CO2 for the same emissions.
Also searched as: CO2e, CO2 equivalent, MtCO2e, global warming potential, carbon equivalent
Related: Territorial and consumption emissions · Net zero · Carbon budget · Revisions · What are UK greenhouse gas emissions?
Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE)
The official measure of fuel poverty in England: a household with an energy efficiency rating of band D or below and income below the poverty line after housing and energy costs.
Low Income Low Energy Efficiency (LILEE) is the measure used for official fuel poverty statistics in England. A household is fuel poor if it lives in a home with a fuel poverty energy efficiency rating of band D or below, and its income after housing costs and required energy costs is below the poverty line. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero publishes the statistics each year, with a projection for the latest year.
Why it matters when checking a claim
- Efficiency matters as much as bills. A low-income household in an efficient home (band C or above) is not counted as fuel poor under LILEE, even if bills rise sharply.
- Each nation uses a different definition. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland use measures based on the share of income spent on fuel, so their rates are not directly comparable with England's.
- Depth as well as numbers. The fuel poverty gap measures how far households are from leaving fuel poverty.
See how many households are in fuel poverty.
Also searched as: LILEE, fuel poverty definition, fuel poverty england, fuel poverty measure
Related: Before and after housing costs (BHC and AHC) · Relative and absolute poverty · How many households are in fuel poverty? · What is the energy price cap?
Social rent
Rented homes owned by councils or housing associations, with rents set using a government formula and usually well below market rents.
Social rent homes are let by local councils and housing associations (private registered providers) at rents set through a national formula. The formula takes account of local earnings, the relative value of the property and its size, and annual increases are limited by the government's rent standard, regulated in England by the Regulator of Social Housing.
Why it matters when checking a claim
See how many social homes are there and right to buy sales.
Also searched as: social housing, council housing, social rent meaning, social rent vs affordable rent, formula rent
Official definitions: Regulator of Social Housing and MHCLG: Rent standard and guidance · MHCLG: Social housing lettings
Related: Affordable rent · Affordable housing · Temporary accommodation · How many social housing homes are there in England? · How many people are on social housing waiting lists? · How many council homes are sold through Right to Buy?