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<p> </p><p>I have placed in the Library of the House, a table showing affordable and
social rents as a proportion of market rents, for each London borough.</p><p>The affordable
rent model allows for more new affordable housing to be delivered with lower levels
of taxpayer capital subsidy and by levering in more private investment. The programme
is helping deliver £15 billion of private investment in new affordable housing over
the current spending review, alongside £4.5 billion of public investment. Social rent
and affordable rent go hand in hand; both help provide accommodation for those on
low incomes.</p><p>As the National Audit Office has observed: “the Department selected
the best delivery model open to it for the funds it had available” and “the Department
has so far achieved its policy objective to maximise the number of homes delivered
within the available grant funding” (National Audit Office, “Financial viability of
the social housing sector: introducing the Affordable Homes Programme”, 4 July 2012,
<em>HC465,</em> pp.6-7).</p><p>I note in his recent Fabian Society pamphlet, the rt.
hon. Member has complained that affordable rent would result in rents of 80 per cent
of market rents in London. Whilst it varies by borough, as the table shows, for example,
affordable rent levels are 38 per cent of average local market rents in Camden, 48
per cent in Islington, 54 per cent in Southwark and 35 per cent in Westminster, reflecting
local circumstances.</p><p>I also observe that the housing policy announced at the
Labour Party Conference in October 2012 also endorsed the use of affordable rents
to build new homes; albeit this point is frequently lost on many Labour hon. Members
who proceed to attack the basic principle of affordable rent in allowing more new
affordable homes to be built using taxpayer capital subsidy.</p><p> </p>
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