Today we learned that the population of private renters grew by more than 1 million households between 2011 and 2021. 

One in five of us in England and Wales now rents from a private landlord - a huge increase in ten years, while the proportion of the population that owns their home has fallen. 

All that is stuff we had a pretty good idea about already, but for the first time we know where all those private renters are!

The government has made a big song and dance about the zero inflation rate - for the first time in years the cost of living isn't rising. But that only applies if you don't have to worry about the rent.

Today the Office for National Statistics published the latest private rental inflation figures, which stand at 2.5% across Great Britain, and 3.8% in London.

Today, the Office for National Statistics released a three decade perspective on the housing market. They have observed six key trends spanning the decades

Today the ONS released its latest House Price Index, showing UK house price inflation to the end of October 2014. Really, not much has changed. Whilst inflation has slowed a miniscule amount, falling from 12.1% in the year to September to 10.4% in the year to October, this is still a worryingly high figure for those struggling to buy their first home. Indeed, once seasonal adjustments have been taken into account, inflation has actually risen by 0.1%.

The ONS has today released its Family Spending statistics up to the end of 2013. These show that families’ weekly expenditure has begun to increase, following a steady decline since 2006, although levels of spending still remain lower than those of 2006 once inflation has been taken into account. The decrease was due to families cutting back on non-essential items following the recession. This increase can be attributed to rising housing and transport costs, forcing families to find money to cover their basic needs.

Is house price inflation starting to slow? Across the whole market, it would seem so, with the Office for National Statistics finding inflation fell from 10.4% in May to 10.2% in June. That is still well above anything that's remotely healthy - and house prices were already historically expensive, even after the 2008 crash. 

But first time buyers have it particularly bad. If you want to buy a house, prices are now 12 percent higher than they were a year ago (in May inflation was running at 11.3%). For people who already own a house and want to move, they are seeing a slowdown - from 10% to 9.5%. 

House prices continue to outpace wages. Hot on the heels of Mark Carney's interview with Sky News and David Cameron's interview on this morning's Today Programme, the Office for National Statistics published its House Price Index, which confirmed that there’s no let-up for first time buyers, who are facing double-digit inflation and stagnant wages.

This morning, the Office for National Statistics revealed the latest miserable house price index. People who want to buy their first home must now pay 10.5% more than they would have a year ago - a figure that rises to 17.5% in London.