Housing

This topic area covers statistics and information relating to housing in Hull including local strategic need and service provision. Further information relating to Homelessness is given within Vulnerable Groups.

This page contains information from the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips. Information is taken ‘live’ from the site so uses the latest available data from Fingertips and displays it on this page. As a result, some comments on this page may relate to an earlier period of time until this page is next updated (see review dates at the end of this page).

Headlines

• We need warm, safe and secure homes to help us to lead healthy, independent lives and to recover from illness.
• Poor quality housing can lead to poor physical and mental health, and poverty means that people in poor housing are less able to move home.
• Throughout the life course poor quality housing can have different adverse impacts, from poor weight gain in infants to excess winter deaths in the elderly.
• Hull has significantly less owner occupied housing and three times as many local authority owned dwellings than nationally.
• One in five homes in Hull are Council owned and two out of three homes in the city  are in the lowest Council Tax band.
• In the 2011 Census, four in 100 Hull homes do not have central heating.
• 13% of Hull households are lone parent families.

The Population Affected – Why Is It Important?

Our homes are the cornerstones of our lives. Where we live and the quality of our homes has an important impact on our health and how we feel. The very fabric of our housing affects our wellbeing, risk of disease and our demands on health and care services. We need warm, safe and secure homes to help us to lead healthy, independent lives and to recover from illness.

The right home environment is essential to health and wellbeing, throughout life. There are risks to an individual’s physical and mental health associated with living in:

• a cold, damp, or otherwise hazardous home (an unhealthy home).
• a home that doesn’t meet the household’s needs due to risks such as being overcrowded or inaccessible to a disabled or older person (an unsuitable home).
• a home that does not provide a sense of safety and security including precarious living circumstances and/or homelessness (an unstable home).

The right home environment protects and improves health and wellbeing, and prevents physical and mental ill health. It also enables people to:

• manage their own health and care needs, including long term conditions.
• live independently, safely and well in their own home for as long as they choose.
• complete treatment and recover from substance misuse, tuberculosis or other ill-health.
• move on successfully from homelessness or other traumatic life event.
• access and sustain education, training and employment.
• participate and contribute to society.

The home or housing circumstances present a particular risk to the health and wellbeing of:

• children, and their families.
• people with long-term conditions.
• people with mental health issues.
• people with learning disabilities.
• people recovering from ill health.
• older people.
• people who spend a lot of time at home such as carers.
• low income households.
• people who experience a number of inequalities.

The Hull Picture

Housing Stock

In Hull, in 2020, there were a total of approximately 122,510 dwellings. The type of dwellings are given for 2019 in the table below.

Dwelling tenure	Number
Private sector:	87,000
Owner occupied		60,000
Private rented		27,000
Local authority owned	24,000
Registered provider of social housing	9,000
Other public sector	250

In 2019, the majority of dwellings (72.3%) are privately owned; either owner occupied (49.8%) or privately rented (22.5%). Owner occupation in Hull (49.8%) is significantly below both the national (63.2%) and regional (64.2%) figures. Conversely, private renting in Hull (22.5%) is above regional (18.3%) and national (19.9%) figures. In Hull the proportion of local authority owned dwellings (20%) is three times the national figure (6.6%).

Hull has a much higher percentage of dwellings that are terraced houses and fewer semi-detached and detached houses compared to the region and England.

Dwelling type	Hull, number	Hull, %	Y&H, %	England, %
Bungalows	8,010	6.6	10.9	9.3
Flats / maisonettes	20,220	16.6	15.2	23.2
Terraced houses	64,930	53.4	29.0	26.3
Semi-detached houses	22,250	18.3	29.1	23.8
Detached houses	5,710	4.7	13.9	15.6

In 2020, there were 8,010 (6.6%) dwellings that were bungalows in Hull (lower than the national average of 9.3%), 20,220 (16.6%) dwellings that were flats or maisonettes (lower than the national average 23.2%), 64,930 (53.4%) dwellings that Most dwellings are terraced properties (53.4%) – over twice the national figure. This means that the proportion of semi-detached (18.3%) and detached (4.4%) properties is significantly low compared to regionally and nationally.

The significant majority (67%) of dwellings in Hull fall within the lowest Council Tax Band (A) – much higher proportion than regional (43%) and national figures (24%).

Tax band	Hull, number	Hull, %	Y&H, %	England, %
Band A	81,910	67	43	24
Band B	23,650	19	20	20
Band C	10,730	9	17	22
Band D	4,450	4	10	16
Band E	1,360	1	6	10
Band F	320	0	3	5
Band G	60	0	2	4
Band H	40	0	0	1

Supply and Demand

During the financial year 2018/19, a total of 840 new house builds were started and 720 new house builds were completed.

During the financial year 2018/19 there were 684 dwellings added to Hull’s dwelling stock: 373 of these (54.5%) were classed as affordable dwellings.

In 2018 there were a total of 4,935 households on the local authority waiting list. This is lower than the 6,852 during the previous year.

Residential Property Prices

The median house prices are considerably lower in Hull compared to the Yorkshire and Humber region and to England (October 2019 to September 2020). The median is the ‘middle’ value when all properties are ranked in order of their price, so the median can represent the typical value for a property.

Property type	Hull	Y&H	England
Detached houses (£)	216,250	278,000	350,000
Semi-detached houses (£)	138,375	162,000	223,000
Terraced houses (£)	102,500	126,000	195,000
Flats or maisonettes (£)	85,000	124,000	216,000

The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities’ Fingertips includes a measure relating to the affordability of housing. It is a ratio of median house prices to median gross annual residence-based earnings, and a higher ratio denotes that on average, it is less affordable for a resident to purchase a home in their local area. Whilst most people in Hull have relatively low earnings compared to other areas, the property prices are much lower in Hull, and as a result Hull rates relatively well in terms of house affordability.

The ratio for 2021 for Hull is 4.8 which is the lowest among local authorities across the Yorkshire and Humber region, and around half the ratio for England (9.1). So the ‘typical’ house price in Hull is around five times a person’s ‘typical’ annual earnings in Hull.

The median house price in Hull was £39,950 in 2002 but has increased to £124,000 in 2021. There has been a steady increase in house prices in Hull between 2004 and 2020, with a sharp increase between 2020 and 2021. It is possible that this has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. There were relatively few property sales during 2020 and it is possible that demand was greater than supply in 2021 increasing the price paid for house sales occurring during 2021.

Housing Characteristics

Of the 112,596 households counted in the 2011 Census in Hull:

• The majority (49.5%) were owner occupied – owned outright (19.9%) or with a mortgage or loan (29.7%), with 0.4% shared ownership (part owned and part rented). Owner occupation is well below the national average of 63.3%.
• Almost half of households were 28.1% are social rented and 20.4% privately rented – both figures are above the national average.
• Nearly four in 100 (3.9%) did not have central heating – higher than the national figure of 2.7%.
• Over a third (35.3%) contained only one person – higher than the national figure of 30.2%.
• The average household contained 2.2 people living in a house with 4.9 rooms and 2.5 bedrooms.

There were 236 communal establishments such as children’s homes, mental health units, care homes and nursing homes where 3,658 residents lived.

Household Composition

In the 2011 Census, just over one-third of household were one person households (35.3%), and a third of these were households where the person was aged 65+ years. Just under six in ten households were one family households:

• 5.9% aged 65+ years.
• 26.3% married (10.3% no children, 10.9% dependent children and 5.1% non-dependent children).
• 12.5% cohabiting couples (5.7% no children, 6.1% dependent children and 0.7% non-dependent children).
• 12.9% lone parent families (9.1% dependent children and 3.8% non-dependent children).

The remaining 7.1% of households were other types, such as those with all full-time students.

Fingertips provides information on the percentage of people living alone. In the 2011 Census, compared to England, Hull had a higher percentage of people living alone overall, but a lower percentage of people aged 65+ years who lived alone.

Overcrowding

Fingertips provides information on the percentage of households that were overcrowded from the 2011 Census. If it is deemed that the household has one or more fewer bedrooms than it needs based on the ages and relationships of the people living in the household, it is classified as overcrowded.

Strategic Need and Service Provision

There is a need to improve the quality and energy efficient status in homes across the city, promote the availability of affordable homes, ensure there is stability in the housing market so people are not forced to move frequently, and reduce overcrowding.  There needs to be adequate provision of specialist and adapted housing that is fit for purpose.

The Hull Housing Strategy sets out a three year plan to invest in new homes, improve existing homes and neighbourhoods and sets new priorities. A key part of the strategy is supporting the delivery of new and improved housing as well as working to prevent people becoming homeless and provide support and advice to meet individual needs.  The five themes are: (i) housing need; (ii) access to housing; (iii) housing quality; (iv) neighbourhood quality; and (v) neighbourhood renewal and growth.

A Future Housing Needs Strategy is currently underway to inform the refreshed Housing Strategy for 2021-24 and guide investment and set priorities for the future. 

In addition, a new ‘Access and Wellbeing’ function within the Housing Directorate from 2020 will place renewed emphasis on health and housing as a strategic priority.

Resources

The Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (formerly Public Health England). Homes for Health: Strategies, plans, advice and guidance about the relationship between health and the home. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/housing-for-health

Hull’s Data Observatory. Housing. https://data.hull.gov.uk/housing

Hull City Council. Housing Strategies and Policies. https://www.hull.gov.uk/housing/housing-regeneration-and-development/housing-strategies-and-policies

Updates

This page was last updated on 11 May 2022.

This page is due to be updated / checked in December 2022.