Introducing affordable housing

In the UK today, there are insufficient houses for all of the households which need them, at prices or rents that they can afford. The issue of affordable housing has never been so important. Increases in the numbers of households in the UK, through natural population growth, but also due to social change such as people living longer, rising numbers of single person and single parent households and net inward migration, put further pressures on the housing stock. The provision and management of affordable housing demands a wide range of knowledge and expertise This important text examines the history and role of social and affordable housing in the UK and goes on to explore how it is financed, developed, and managed. It considers the key tasks which housing professionals have to undertake and some of the issues inherent in different approaches to these tasks. It recognises that sustainability underlies the work of affordable housing providers, in terms not only of protecting the environment and our scarce resources, but also in relation to promoting social and community cohesion within neighbourhoods. The book’s seven chapters cover: What is affordable housing? What is the context for affordable housing? Who runs affordable housing? How is affordable housing funded? How is affordable housing developed? How is affordable housing managed? Meeting the challenges: the future for affordable housing providers? This book is particularly useful for students studying the Chartered Institute of Housing’s recognised qualifications, but also for broader, social policy-focused courses where an understanding of housing as a social policy issue is necessary.