People living in rented social housing tend to report worse life satisfaction scores than those who rent privately, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In its latest survey, entitled Personal and Economic Well-being: What Matters Most to Our Life Satisfaction?, the ONS suggested there was a bigger share of people in social housing who were either single, in bad health or unemployed, compared with those who had a mortgage.

The ONS said housing tenure had a “strong association” with life satisfaction. In comparison with those buying a property using a mortgage, the odds of reporting lower life satisfaction were 1.25 and 1.22 times greater for those in social housing and privately renting, respectively.