Affordable rent

Published: August 4, 2011

TO the ordinary person, affordable rent means social rents, housing association rents, council housing rents, £420 (or so) per month for a two-bedroom, etcetera…

But the government’s “Affordable Rent Tenure” model will be the only vehicle for new “social” housing developments to attract government grants in the future. The sting is that this model will allow social landlords, including councils, to charge up to 80 per cent of market rents and it is a precondition for the cash.

Given monthly market rents in Camden can easily exceed £1,500 for a two-bedroom property, at 80 per cent how is this “affordable”? According to government’s own figures, 70 per cent of Londoners will not be able to afford these!

This tenure will add to the social cleansing already happening in Camden through the government’s cap on housing benefits. Forced into a corner, Camden has now all but stopped looking for temporary accommodation in Camden in the private rented market because of housing benefit caps due to come into force in April 2012 – opting instead to break up communities and relatives, forcing family members to the outer fringes of our city. Perhaps those who can afford to live in our city from now on should brace themselves and role up their sleeves to do all the work done by the very people forced to up sticks.

Will Labour-run councils succumb to the government’s carrot in the form of this cash to build new homes?
Cllr Meric Apak
Chair of Housing and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee