The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has said it is reassured by the fact that social landlords have increased their housing stock by 42,727  homes in England in the year to 31 March 2024 despite the “challenging economic environment”.

The increase, revealed in fresh data released by RSH, is 21% higher than the 33,872 rise posted the previous year. The increase was largely due to the number of social rented homes increasing by 696, compared to a 6,635 reduction in 2022/23.

RSH said the small increase in social rent units was due to housing associations increasing their social rented stock by 5,188 homes, offsetting a reduction of 4,492 social rented homes for local authorities.

Social landlords increase their affordable rented stock by 24,756 units and their low cost-home ownership homes by 17,275, equating to 42,031 homes in total. This compares to an increase of 40,508 the previous year for those two categories.