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Government announces Affordable Rent programme

Monday, 14 February 2011 3:57 PM

Housing minister Grant Shapps has confirmed his plans for "the most radical reforms to social housing for a generation", removing the right to council houses for life and giving landlords flexibility in how much rent they charge for council houses under the Affordable Rent programme.

The programme means that landlords will be able to charge up to 80 per cent of the market rate when they feel that the tenant can afford it. This is part of a wider attempt to move away from what Shapps dubs the "one size fits all approach" to social housing.

The minister originally spoke about his intentions in November, provoking concern from homelessness charity Shelter, whose chief executive Campbell Robb said: "The government's response to our affordable housing crisis has seen the poorest and most vulnerable in society penalised again and again in what begins to feel like a deliberate attack."

However, Grant Shapps believes his plans will provide a lifeline to the 4.5 million people currently on social housing waiting lists - a figure that has doubled over the past 13 years.

The housing minister said: "The new Affordable Rent scheme launched today ... offers landlords the freedom they need to offer a range of solutions to people's housing needs, while being able to raise extra rents to invest in house-building."

The projected £1.8 billion to be raised by the Affordable Rent scheme will comprise part of a total government investment of £4.5 billion, which will go towards building up to 150,000 new affordable homes over the next four years.

Shapps has also been at pains to stress that 'flexible tenancies' will only apply to new social housing tenants; existing tenants will retain their right to council housing for life.

Pat Ritchie, chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) which will be responsible for implementing the Affordable Rent scheme, said: "This new way of operating will allow us to do more with less resources, but it will rely heavily on effective working partnerships between local authorities and providers."

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