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Housing and housebuilding

Information about the North East dwelling stock, net additional dwellings and house building

Housing and land
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Dwelling stock

There were almost 939,000 dwellings in the North East LEP area in 2021. More than a quarter were in County Durham, with Northumberland having the next highest total. A higher proportion of North East dwellings were public housing stock than nationally in 2021, with South Tyneside having the highest percentage among the North East local authority areas.  The North East had a lower dwelling stock density per hectare than nationally in 2021. This was largely driven by Northumberland's very low density. Among North East local authority areas, the density was highest in North Tyneside.

Net additional dwellings

The net additional dwellings dataset is the most comprehensive measure of housing supply as it includes the effects of conversions, change of use and demolitions alongside new build.  The number of net additional dwellings in the North East LEP area in 2020/21 was at the lowest level since 2014/15. The total had been at the highest level during the past two decades in 2016/17 but had decreased in each year since.

When taking dwelling stock into account, the North East rate of net additional dwellings has been lower than England's throughout the last 20 years. Within the North East, the rate in the first 10 years of this period was highest in County Durham, while, in the second decade, it was highest in Newcastle upon Tyne. In the latest year, the percentage of additional North East  dwellings due to new build was higher than the national equivalent with change of use making a much smaller contribution to the total, especially in South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham.

Housebuilding

The number of housebuilding starts in the North East LEP area in 2020/21 was higher than in the previous year, while the number of completions was lower. The latest North East ratio of starts to completions was higher than the England ratio, which was below 1 for the third year in succession. In the latest year, housebuilding starts in the North East were more likely to be by private enterprise than nationally, although the percentage of public housing starts was similar to national levels in Gateshead, North Tyneside and Sunderland

Public housing stock, vacant dwellings

In 2021 there were almost 212,000 dwellings in the North East LEP area's public housing stock. The total was slightly lower than ten years earlier but 17% lower than twenty years earlier. Nationally, the total had fallen much less sharply than in the North East in the first decade and had risen during the second decade. In the North East, about 39% of these dwellings were local authority housing stock in 2021, compared to 70% in 2001. 

There were just under 29,700  vacant dwellings in the North East LEP area in 2021. This was the lowest total since the start of the dataset in 2004. When expressed as a percentage of the dwelling stock, the North East rate of vacant dwellings was higher than nationally in 2021. It was highest in Sunderland and County Durham within the North East.