Published today (Friday 10 July), the report, A city that works for everyone, brings together new analysis from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), polling of Londoners and new evidence on the economic impact and value of social and affordable housing.
The new research reveals that people living in London’s social housing residents contribute £27.8 billion in economic output every year. This builds on evidence that London’s social homes provided by housing associations and councils create around £20 billion of value each year including through savings for public services, including health, policing and housing benefit.
Together, the findings present one of the clearest pictures yet of the contribution social housing makes to economic growth, productivity and public service resilience. They include:
- London’s social homes create around £20 billion of social value each year.
- 65% of employed social housing residents work in key worker occupations. The total social housing workforce in London contributes almost £28bn a year to the economy.
- Social housing residents contribute more than £9 to the economy for every £1 received in housing benefit.
The evidence shows that the tenure is a national economic asset, supporting the workforce, public services and communities that help drive the UK’s largest city and, in turn, the wider economy.
The report also warns that housing affordability and availability in the capital is now a real barrier to sustainable economic growth nationally. As more workers are priced out of the communities where they work, employers face greater recruitment challenges, public services become harder to staff and longer commutes become more common.
Polling commissioned for the report found:
- 86% of Londoners say housing costs have influenced where they live.
- 72% say they have delayed or avoided a major life decision because of housing costs.
- Nearly one in five respondents have delayed having children because of housing costs.
Supporting the people who keep the country moving
The report also shows that almost two-thirds of employed social housing residents work in key worker occupations, compared with around 40% of London’s general workforce. The social housing workforce supports hospitals, schools, transport, care services, retail, construction and local businesses, keeping essential services running every day.
The research reveals that social housing residents contribute more than £9 to the economy for every £1 received in housing benefit, proving for the first time the significant economic return generated through investment in social and affordable housing.
Ian McDermott, Chief Executive of Peabody and Chair of G15, said:
“People living in London’s social housing contribute almost £28 billion to the economy every year, while social homes themselves create billions more in value by reducing pressure on our public services.
“That makes social housing one of the country’s most important economic assets. It supports the nurses, teachers, carers, transport workers, shop workers and countless others who keep our economy moving, while giving families the stability they need to thrive.
“However, the capital’s housing crisis is a human tragedy and represents a major threat and risk to national growth. The lack of social homes hits all aspects of productivity and the economy, making it harder for employers to recruit, increasing pressure on public services and pushing councils towards financial crisis through spiralling temporary accommodation costs.
“As government rightly focuses on growth and delivering more homes, this research proves that investing in councils and housing associations to deliver more social housing is a necessary investment in economic prosperity, stronger public services and the country’s future.”
Daisy Armstrong, Chair of the G15 Residents’ Group and a Southern Housing Board member commented:
“This research gives a clear and powerful demonstration of the value residents bring to the economy, public services and communities every day.
“Too often, residents are defined by stigma rather than by the work we do, the families we raise, the communities we support and the public services we help keep running. People living in social housing are part of London’s workforce, economy and civic life.
“This report should help change that conversation. Social housing gives people stability, but residents also give a huge amount back. If we want stronger communities and a fairer society, resident voices and experiences need to be heard, respected and reflected in decisions about the future of housing.”
Cllr Anthony Okereke, Greenwich Council leader and London Councils’ Executive Member for Housing & Homelessness, said:
“Council and social housing are integral to the capital’s success. London’s social housing sector provides homes to many key workers who are the lifeblood of London’s businesses and services, making an immense contribution to the capital’s economy.
“London is grappling with the most extreme housing and homelessness pressures in the country. Building more social housing is a vital part of the solution to these challenges. Boroughs are as committed as ever to working with the G15, the government and other partners to secure the best possible future for London’s social housing.”
Tom Copley, London’s Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development, said:
“This research underlines the vital role social housing plays in London’s success. It supports the key workers, families and communities our economy depends on, while generating billions of pounds in economic value every year. That’s why the Mayor is committed to working with boroughs and housing associations to deliver the genuinely affordable homes Londoners need.”
Housing Secretary Steve Reed said:
“This report shows how our cities and towns prosper when families have the security of a stable home.
“That’s why we’re making the biggest investment in social and affordable housing in a generation, with £39 billion to build the homes we need, including up to £11.7 billion for London alone.”
As part of this research, CEBR worked with Opinium to undertake a survey of 1,000 London residents in Spring 2026. The survey included Londoners aged 18 to 50 and was designed to be representative of London’s population by age, gender, income, employment status and household composition. Quotas were also applied across housing tenures to ensure balanced representation and sufficiently robust sample sizes to compare attitudes and experiences across different housing groups. The survey explored residents’ housing aspirations, moving intentions, barriers to achieving their preferred housing outcomes and the wider impacts.
Notes to Editors
Housing affordability in the capital is a risk to national growth
Alongside the new economic analysis, the report highlights the growing impact of housing costs on working Londoners in every single borough.
The average employed social housing resident takes home around £2,229 each month, while a typical two-bedroom social rent is around £715 a month, or around 32% of net income. Equivalent private rents would consume around 85% of monthly income in Lambeth and 112% in Westminster, illustrating how many working households would struggle to remain in the capital without genuinely affordable housing.
View a new digital housing map of the capital here: https://g15.london/g15-housing-map/
Continuing to invest despite growing pressures
The report also highlights the scale of investment London’s not for profit housing associations continue to make in homes and communities.
Since 2016, G15 members have delivered more than 109,000 new homes, including almost 70,000 in the capital alongside the Mayor of London. Since 2020 they have invested £8.8 billion maintaining and improving residents’ homes, equivalent to around £4 million every day for six years.
However, the report also shows the increasing financial pressures facing the social housing sector, with rising borrowing costs and regulatory requirements reducing the capacity to invest in the next generation of social and affordable homes without long-term policy certainty.