MOCAŠ
MB Enthusiast
Is 'Social Housing' the same as 'Affordable Housing'?
No - social housing generally refers to houses owned by the local authority or a housing association, which are made available to people that meet strict criteria for a rent that is about a third of the market rate. There was an interesting programme on Channel 4 about local authority housing recently, following the travails of people on the waiting list for such properties. Some of them have to wait for seven years or more.
Affordable housing is generally a euphemism for shoe-box flats that are built in an unloved corner of a new development to meet the legal obligation to do so. However, for years now, developers have been buying their way out of these commitments - an extra bung to the council buys them permission to build the affordable properties somewhere south of the river, so long as it's within a certain radius of the development (which usually means they end up somewhere in or near Battersea).