Briefing: affordable rent is not affordable

'Affordable' rent has replaced social rent as the main form of 'affordable' housing that gets built in England, draining investment away from delivering genuinely affordable social rent homes.

The problem with affordable rent is that in many places, it's simply not affordable. Shelter has carried out new analysis estimating that in 42% of local authorities in England, so-called affordable rent is in fact unaffordable. This contrasts to social rent, which is affordable in virtually all local authorities (98%) in the country.

As homelessness rises and rents spiral, the government must prioritise social rent to tackle the housing emergency and give people a genuinely affordable and secure home.