The social housing sector needs to listen to what women want or risk becoming increasingly unpopular, a Housing Corporation report has warned.
The report, Women at Home, pointed out that women now account for three in every five housing association tenancies.

With the role of women in society changing, traditional family units declining and life expectancy increasing, social housing now has the potential to be a lifestyle choice for many women, the report said.

Housing Corporation chair Baroness Dean said: "We are going to be providing for more lone older women who have survived their partners and more women who bring up children on their own – and both these groups will continue to be financially disadvantaged. However, we must recognise that tenants are increasingly wishing to exercise choices about how and where they live and unless we respond to that, social housing will be become marginalised."

Dean called on associations, planners and architects to listen to what women want from their homes and neighbourhoods. She has also called on women to exert more influence over housing policy and said the sector would benefit from having more women in senior positions.