The forgotten households - Is intermediate housing meeting affordable housing needs?

By: Nicola Hughes
Published: July 2010

The Forgotten Households - Is intermediate housing meeting housing needs?

There is clearly a group of low-income households currently receiving little or no state support for housing: they are neither in the lowest income bracket and thus able to access housing benefit and/or social housing, nor are they homeowners, who receive a range of tax advantages through their home ownership, nor can they afford or access low-cost home ownership.

By Shelter’s estimates, this group amounts to more than 866,000 working households. Constrained public finances mean that it is unfeasible to extend state-supported housing schemes to everyone in this group, so, Shelter asks, who should be prioritised, why, and what support should they be given?