Do more people rent or own their home?

On BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg last weekend, housing campaigner Kwajo Tweneboa said “We know the majority of people now in the UK are renting”.

However, this doesn’t seem to be the case. 

The majority of households own their home. The government’s annual housing survey for England (2022/23) shows 65% of households own their home, 19% are privately renting and 16% live in socially rented housing.

These figures are similar in Wales based on the 2021 census, where 66.4% of households own their homes and 33.6% rent, and in Northern Ireland, where 65.2% of households own their home and 34.8% rent. In Scotland, 58% of dwellings are owner-occupied and 38% of dwellings are rented (based on 2020 figures).

If we multiply the average household size in England with the number of households that own or rent, according to the 2021 census, it appears that roughly 32.6 million people own their home, and 19.9 million are renting.

The picture in London seems different. More households in London rent than own their homes. 31% were private renters in 2022/23, and 21% social renters, while 49% owned their home. While in the rest of England, excluding London, home ownership in England was 68%. 

We’ve contacted Mr Tweneboa for comment and will update this article if he responds.