The Ministry of
Housing, Communities and Local Government has released new figures on the
Affordable housing supply in England : 2017 to 2018.
The
figures show that:
• There were 47,355
affordable homes delivered in England in 2017-18, an increase of 12 per cent
compared to 2016-17
• The total includes
2,653 at London affordable rents and 4,629 at social rents, compared to 5,380
social rented homes across England in 2016-17 plus 26,838 for affordable rent
and 1,024 intermediate rent in 2017-18.
• In 2017-18 57 per
cent of all new affordable homes were affordable rent homes.
Chartered Institute
of Housing head of policy and external affairs Melanie Rees said: “Another year
on year increase in the total number of affordable homes being built is a
welcome step, but we still have a long way to go.
"It’s
disappointing to see that so few of those homes are at the lowest social rents
- the only truly affordable option for many people on lower incomes.
“We desperately need
more genuinely affordable homes to tackle our national housing crisis and
rising levels of homelessness. Our analysis shows that we lost more than
150,000 homes for social rent in just five years between 2012 and 2017, and
that figure could reach 230,000 by 2020 unless we take action now.
“Currently just 21
per cent of government investment in housing is going to affordable housing.
Rebalancing this budget to support people on lower incomes who can’t afford to
buy would make a big difference. That’s why we’re calling on government to support
councils and housing associations to build more homes for social rent.”
