In 2001 69% of households were owner occupied, but this dropped to 64% (15 million) in 2011. The private rental sector has expanded from 31% of households to 36% in the same period.
Frances O'Grady, TUC general secretary, said the results were proof that successive governments have placed housing policy too low on the agenda.
He said: “We now have the most expensive and dysfunctional housing system in Europe, with millions of people living in often sub-standard private rented accommodation.
“A generation of young people face the prospect of never owning their own home. There are no longer any areas in the South of England where average house prices are less than five times the average wage.
“Selling off existing affordable homes through Right to Buy is not the way to deal with Britain’s housing crisis. With the government able to borrow at rock bottom rates it needs to get out its cheque book and start building.
“Investing in house building will pay for itself and generate thousands of jobs and apprenticeships.”
In 2011 5% of households or 1.1 million homes were overcrowded.
This was most common in London, where one in 10 (11%) households were overcrowded, while this figure rises to a quarter (25.2%) in the Newham borough in the capital.
