Affordable Rent Replacement Expected Within Months

The future of the affordable rent programme will be announced within months, according to housing minister Mark Prisk. The affordable rent programme, which allows housing providers to charge social tenants up to 80% of local market rates, comes to an end in 2015. The uncertainty surrounding the future of funding for social housing has concerned local authorities and housing associations.  Speaking at a Westminster city council event, Prisk said the government was already "looking at where do we go beyond 2015". "We are now looking at how do we make sure that we resolve the questions around the future of the affordable rent programme and the future of social housing. Our intention is to seek to develop a conversation with everybody, but to not spend years doing this. We don't have years in which to do this," he said.  Read more on the Guardian website.