What is affordable rent?

In 2012, the Conservative Government introduced the affordable rent regime. The Government had cut the grants available to housing associations by almost half. The new regime was intended to give housing associations a way to increase their income, so that they could carry on building new homes, despite these cuts. The Government set the new affordable rent at 80% of market rent.

The model allowed some social homes to transition from social to affordable rent – but there were certain conditions. To qualify, the units had to be vacant, and housing associations couldn't apply for an entire street to be converted. The idea was to spread these affordable rent homes across housing estates.

Currently, there are strict controls in place. Housing associations can't convert a social rent home into an affordable rent home. And if an affordable rent home was converted back to social rent, they would lose the additional income that affordable rent brings in. Both the Regulator of Social Housing and Curo closely monitor these regulations.

Of Curo’s almost 14,000 homes, 985 are offered at affordable rent, with most of these (584) built after the new rent regime came into force.

Curo homes are offered under three different types of rent: affordable, social and Shared Ownership.

Affordable rent: Due to the rapid increase in market rent in recent years, there have been corresponding rises in affordable rent. Service charges are included in this rent. Affordable rents are higher than social rents but still offer the same advantages, such as lifetime tenancies.

Social rent: Social rent is calculated by Government and ties back to the average social rent in 1999, when it introduced the Rent Standard. Various factors influence the rent, such as the number of bedrooms, the value of the home in 1999 and the county it’s in. Service charges are added on top.

Shared Ownership: Shared Ownership rent is calculated based on details in the Section 106 agreement between the developer and the local council when the planning application was approved. Shared Ownership is a 'part buy, part rent' scheme that allows customers to buy a share of a property and pay rent on the rest. Complaints may arise if a similar home on the same street is listed at a higher sale price but a lower rent. This could be due to differences in market values for the units or adjustments in ownership percentages.