I am a town councillor, a member of the tenants' executive committee that comes under the umbrella of West Wiltshire Housing Society and I am also a member of the local tenants' and residents' association. Now, I don't consider myself stupid but can someone explain to me the following: are affordable homes and social housing one and the same or are they two totally different things?
If they are the same, the term "affordable homes" is misleading. If they are different things, isn't it time this government made local authorities focus more on social housing (which is badly needed) as opposed to affordable homes? This is especially needed in poor and rural areas, where low wages don't allow people, especially young couples, even to get on to the "affordable" housing property ladder.
Let's be realistic. We are in dire need of more social housing all over the country. We have thousands of people in hostels, people on benefits – how are these people supposed to get into "affordable homes"?
I wonder if this is just another ploy by local authorities so that they don't have to spend money on maintaining social housing, as they don't want the responsibility that goes with it. After all, enough of them got rid of their responsibilities with large-scale transfers.
Source
Housing Today
Postscript
CL Mitchell, Westbury, Wiltshire
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