Institutional Structure of Social Housing Finance

Summary. It is argued that social housing in the UK curren tly faces affordability and invest-ment problem s. Rental payments are highly dependent on housing bene ® ts and more investm ent, with higher rent levels and lower direct subsidy, requires more expenditure on housing bene ® ts if affordability problem s are to be avoided. The increasin g role of private ® nance in funding housing associat ion developments is reviewed. There is an exam ination of the institutional relation ship between social housing expenditure and the public de ® cit. The case for new forms of social housing organ isation s which are less restricted by public expenditure con trols is exam ined. It is argued that new social housing institutions will contribute more to the resolu tion of the investm ent than the affordability problem. The relation ship between ® nance and social purpose is explored. It is concluded that there is a con tinuing need for redistrib utive measures if social housing is to achieve its essen tial purposes. 1