Sharp Drop in New Affordable Homes Under Coalition

The coalition will commission just 37,000 new affordable homes – a fifth of the number ministers had promised to build by the end of the parliament – with Tory-controlled local authorities giving the go-ahead for an average of just 93 affordable homes per council. Freedom of information requests by the Labour party to 324 local councils showed Tory administrations were building 30% fewer affordable homes than Lib Dem councils and about only 40% of those in Labour authorities, which were planning an average of 211 affordable properties over the next three years. There are concerns that the number of affordable homes, be they in council hands or built by housing associations, has collapsed under the coalition. Last summer official statistics showed the number of "affordable housing starts" for 2011-12 fell by 68% on the previous year.  Read more on the Guardian website.