'Affordable Housing' Does Not Mean What You Think It Means

In the good old days, councils and housing associations built social rented housing –  a simple idea in which rents were based on a formula that combined local wages and local property values so that, rents would be set at around 50% of local market rents – even lower in very expensive areas. Now, councils and housing associations have been told to replace social rented housing with a new product called, confusingly, affordable housing.  The average market rents for October 2013 show 80% of market rates for a three-bedroom property in London would be a staggering £655 a week in Westminster to £198 a week in Havering.  Elsewhere typical weekly rent for a three-bedroom home would be £218 in Sevenoaks, £247 in Brighton, £233 in Oxford and £179 in Bristol. No family on a minimum or very low wage could hope to pay these rents without relying on housing benefit. It's only when you move out to places such as Thanet (£128 a week), Peterborough (£115) or Nottingham (£110) that rents start to become affordable. Read more on the Guardian website.