Only around 700 new social rented homes were built or acquired last year in England, official figures show.

The total stock of social homes in England stood at 4.5 million as of the end of March this year, according to data from the Regulator of Social Housing.

This is an increase of nearly 43,000 social homes since 2023, but only 700 of these additional homes were for social rent.

The figures show that most of the increase in social housing stock since 2023 has been driven by around 24,800 additional “affordable rent” homes and 17,300 “low-cost home ownership” properties.

Although 5,200 new social rented homes were added, this was coupled with a loss of 4,500 social rented homes, which was likely driven by Right to Buy sales and other schemes.

The news comes after the Chancellor confirmed she will release an extra £500m to build up to 5,000 social homes and bring in measures to protect the country’s existing social housing stock.