The number of households on local authority waiting lists for housing remains above one million.
The private rental sector has been filling the void of social housing over the past six years, lettings platform Bunk has found.
The number of households on local authority waiting lists for housing remains above one million.
But despite this, the total number of homes reaching the social rental sector has grown by just 0.07% since 2013.
The number of homes being rented in the social sector via local authorities has dropped by 5.29% since 2013 according to Bunk.
During the same time period, the number of private rental properties has increased by 7.7%.
Tom Woollard, co-founder of Bunk, said: “We tend to focus on the lack of affordable housing being built within the property market as a whole but what is also abundantly clear is that there is a dire shortage of homes being delivered to those that arguably need them the most.
“While the overall number of social housing reaching the rental sector has remained largely static since 2013, we’ve not only seen a decrease over the last year but a maintained need for it with over one million people currently on waiting lists.
“Local authorities have kept this issue at arm's length by offloading the responsibility to private enterprise, with notable growth in private rentals also helping to pick up the slack.
“However, if the government maintains its attack on the buy-to-let sector, an exodus of landlords will not only spell trouble for private rental tenants but the social sector as well.”
