Over 75% of new social homes are bought or leased from builders

Building of public housing by local authorities has dwindled to nearly non-existent levels in our biggest cities, official figures show

Public housing can be delivered by several methods, including direct builds by state bodies and acquisitions or leases from the private sector.

More than three-quarters of the new social homes delivered by the state in 2020 were bought or leased from private developers, new figures released by the Department of Housing have shown.

The data has also revealed that local authority building of public housing has dwindled to nearly non-existent levels in the biggest cities.

The lack of development has forced the state to rely on acquisitions and lease deals with private developers to source new homes ...