Social landlords in the north and midlands are set to be the biggest losers under the government’s new affordable rent regime. Because the difference between social rent and affordable rent varies in different parts of the country, the potential income from the new regime for landlords will vary significantly. Estimates by the Chartered Institute of Housing show that an increase to 80 per cent of market rent (but limited to the new local housing allowance caps) will allow associations to generate an additional £1.5 billion pounds of borrowing capacity and build 15,000 homes a year. But of those, only 358 homes (around 2 per cent) would be built annually in the north east and only 333 in the east midlands, compared to 7,100 homes in London, nearly half of the total supply for England, and 2,158 in the south east. Ruth Cooke, finance director at 32,000-home landlord Midland Heart, said the flexibility of the new regime is ‘utterly illusory’ because in some areas of the midlands there is a £5 difference between social and market rent. Read more on Inside Housing.
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