Number of affordable homes delivered rises by 12 per cent

Government figures have revealed that the number of affordable homes delivered in the last year has risen by 12 per cent.

There were 47,355 affordable homes delivered in England last year – with 57 per cent, or 26,838, of them in the form of affordable rent homes delivered via grant through the Affordable Homes Programme since 2011.

If we had built between 80,000 and 100,000 social rent homes a year from 2014 instead of subsidising various dodgy ownership "products", everyone would have a home. https://t.co/PNyjaRukCg

— Rob Gershon (@Simplicitly) November 23, 2018

New builds also account for 90 per cent of the affordable homes delivered with 42,757 completed last year – the highest since 2013.

However, while acknowledging that the rise represents a small positive step, housing experts and campaigners have spoken out against the type of homes being built.

Labour’s shadow housing secretary John Healey pointed out that the number of social rent homes – rented housing owned and managed by local authorities and private registered providers – being built has fallen by 80 per cent in a decade when 30,000 were built every year.

He said: “These figures confirm the disastrous fall in the number of new affordable homes for social rent under the Conservatives.”

*Over 320000 Homeless people.
*Majority of government investment in home ownership
*Only 6000 social rent homes built.
Three headlines that sum up the housing crisis in the UK today which is a direct result of government policy.

— Tom Murtha. Retired. (@tomemurtha) November 23, 2018

There were 6,463 social rent homes delivered last year – 14 per cent of the total – well short of the 90,000 that the National Housing Federation and Crisis from Herion-Watt University recommend. In fact, the total number of affordable homes delivered remains at just a third of the levels required with NHF calling for 145,000 affordable homes to be delivered every year.

The shortage of affordable homes is behind mounting social housing waiting lists and contributes to the shocking number of Brits living as homeless, which Shelter revealed was the reality for more than 300,000 people earlier this week.