There were an estimated 4.3 million leasehold homes in England in 2017/2018, equating to 18% of the housing stock, the latest official figures show.
Of these, some 2.3 million or 55% were in the owner occupied sector and 1.7 million or 39% were privately owned and let in the private rented sector, according to the data published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
The remaining 249,000 or 6% were properties owned by social landlords and let in the social rented sector, the data also shows.
More than two thirds, 69% or 2.9 million, of the leasehold properties in England were flats while 31% or 1.3 million were houses.
These figures have not changed since 2016/2017, when these Experimental Official Statistics were last published. They are considered by the Government Statistical Service as ‘new official statistics undergoing evaluation’. Publishing them is intended to involve users and stakeholders in their development and as a means of building in quality at an early stage.
In the private sector, 81% of flats were owned on a leasehold basis, 93% of owner occupied flats and 71% of privately rented flats. A much smaller proportion, 9%, of flats in the social rented sector were owned on a leasehold basis.
Leasehold houses were less prevalent than flats and the data report says this is true across all tenures. Overall 7% of houses were owned on a leasehold basis, this was highest in the private rented sector, and lowest in local authority owned houses at 10% and 1% respectively.
Overall, 35% of all private rented sector dwellings, 16% of owner occupied dwellings, and 6% of social rented sector dwellings were leasehold in 2017/2018. Shared owners are included as owner occupiers.
While overall, detached and semi-detached/terraced houses were equally likely to be owned on a leasehold basis, this varied by tenure. Some 10% of semi-detached/terrace houses in the private rented sector and 8% in the owner occupied sector were leasehold.
In the social sector, leasehold semi-detached/terrace houses were less prevalent at 6% of houses owned by housing associations, and 1% of those owned by local authorities. Among detached houses, the apparent differences between the tenures were not statistically significant.
