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How many houses are in England? Official dwelling stock by tenure and type

How many houses are in England? Official dwelling stock: 25.83 million at 31 March 2025, split by tenure and by property type, with the UK total.

4 min read
Last reviewed 4 November 2026
By Your Property Check team

Part 1 of 7

The headline figures

Official statistics count "dwellings", meaning houses, flats, bungalows and other homes, so "houses" in everyday speech means all homes here. General information, with figures from the sources named below, checked on 4 November 2026.

Measure	Figure	Date	Source
Dwellings in England	25,830,000	31 March 2025	MHCLG, published 21 May 2026
Change on the year	+208,600 (0.81%)	to 31 March 2025	MHCLG
Dwellings in England	25,617,751	31 March 2024	ONS (provisional)
Dwellings in the UK	30,667,438	31 March 2024	ONS (provisional)

The two England figures come from different publications and years, so they are not a like-for-like comparison, but they point the same way: about 200,000 more homes each year. The MHCLG estimate includes vacant dwellings. The UK total covers England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Part 2 of 7

How the stock has grown

The ONS series for England shows the number of dwellings at 31 March each year. The latest figure is marked provisional.

At 31 March	Dwellings in England
2017	23,985,307
2018	24,213,477
2019	24,461,243
2020	24,709,834
2021	24,927,588
2022	25,162,050
2023	25,396,342
2024	25,617,751

Between 2017 and 2024 that is an increase of 1,632,444 homes, an average of about 233,000 a year. The calculation is ours from the ONS figures. The yearly additions were about 248,000 in each of 2019 and 2020 and between about 218,000 and 235,000 in each of 2021 to 2024. They do not show how many were new builds, conversions or demolitions.

Part 3 of 7

England by tenure

Who lives in or owns the homes, at 31 March 2025:

Tenure	Dwellings	Share of stock	Change on the year
Owner occupied	16,567,000	64.1%	+131,000
Private rented	5,030,000	19.5%	+54,000
Social and affordable rented	4,201,000	16.3%	+25,000
Other public sector	28,000	0.1%	about -1,000

Social and affordable rented homes are those owned by local authorities and private registered providers such as housing associations. MHCLG reports the housing association stock grew by about 26,000 and the council stock fell by about 2,000 over the year. The rounded tenure figures sum to about 25.83 million.

Part 4 of 7

England by property type

The dwelling stock release does not split homes into houses and flats. The Valuation Office Agency's Council Tax list does, so this table uses it. It covers every property on the Council Tax valuation list for England at 31 March 2026, published on 24 September 2026, with counts rounded to the nearest 10. This is a different count from the dwelling stock estimate (the list totals 25,944,800), so use it for the mix, not the total.

Property type	Properties	Share
Terraced house	6,634,430	25.6%
Flat or maisonette	6,335,760	24.4%
Semi-detached house	6,123,050	23.6%
Detached house	4,179,800	16.1%
Bungalow	2,323,650	9.0%
Caravan, houseboat or mobile home	120,770	0.5%
Annexe	57,130	0.2%
Type unknown	170,210	0.7%
All properties	25,944,800	100%

The shares are our arithmetic from the VOA counts. Put together, houses of all kinds (terraced, semi-detached and detached) number about 16.9 million, or around two in three, with flats about a quarter. Our Council Tax bands explained article shows how the same list is split by band.

Part 5 of 7

Empty homes

MHCLG also counts vacant dwellings from local authority returns. On 6 October 2025 there were 754,264 vacant dwellings in England, 2.9% of the stock, up 34,794 (4.8%) on a year earlier. Of these, 303,185 were long-term vacant, 1.2% of the stock. Council tax rules for such properties are in our guide to second homes and empty property.

Part 6 of 7

What counts as a dwelling

MHCLG says its dwelling stock estimates include vacant dwellings, so an empty home is still counted. The dwelling stock is therefore not the same as the number of households. When you see a different total elsewhere, check the date, the country covered and whether vacant homes, annexes and caravans are included.

Part 7 of 7

Reading these numbers carefully

Different counts. A dwelling, a Council Tax property and a household are different things. Do not mix them.
Dates differ. The dwelling stock figure is at 31 March 2025, the type split at 31 March 2026, the UK total at 31 March 2024.
Revisions. ONS marks the latest UK figures provisional.
England only. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland publish their own figures.

For what homes sell for, use our sold prices tool. This page is general information, not advice.

Our take

Count the homes, then check the street

Our view: national totals are useful context but say little about the home in front of you. Knowing there were about 25.83 million dwellings in England at 31 March 2025, and that about two in three are houses, will not tell you what yours is worth. The common mistake is mixing dwellings, Council Tax properties and households as if they were one count.

What Your Property Check adds: our free house valuation turns the national picture into a local one, with an honest value range from real HM Land Registry sold prices in your postcode, the comparable sales and the working shown. No email or phone needed.

Check my value

Our opinion, drawn from the facts on this page: not advice and not a forecast. We earn from OfferCheck reports and from introducing sellers to cash buyers, so weigh it with that in mind (see our disclosure). We are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.

Questions, answered

Frequently asked questions

How many houses are there in England?

The government estimated 25.83 million dwellings in England at 31 March 2025, up 208,600 (0.81%) on the year. The figure includes flats, bungalows and vacant homes as well as houses.

How many homes are there in the UK?

The Office for National Statistics gives 30,667,438 dwellings in the UK at 31 March 2024. The figure is provisional and covers England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

How many homes in England are owner occupied?

16,567,000, or 64.1% of the stock, at 31 March 2025. Private rented homes were 5,030,000 (19.5%) and social and affordable rented homes 4,201,000 (16.3%).

How many flats are there in England?

The Council Tax list for England at 31 March 2026 counts 6,335,760 flats and maisonettes, about 24.4% of 25,944,800 properties. This is a separate count from the dwelling stock estimate.

How many homes in England are empty?

754,264 vacant dwellings on 6 October 2025, or 2.9% of the stock. Of these, 303,185 were long-term vacant, 1.2% of the stock, according to MHCLG.

Where this comes from

Sources

Last reviewed 4 November 2026 by the Your Property Check team. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. For your own situation, speak to a conveyancing solicitor or another qualified professional.