In a bid to ensure that local housing is affordable and can effectively make a difference to communities, Wiltshire Council has announced that housing developments will have to contain homes for social rent, rather than just affordable homes. Adrian Foster, the portfolio holder for housing, said at a council meeting: “From this point on, any planning applications that come to Wiltshire will have to include social rental houses, not affordable rental houses.”

The move highlights the harsh conditions of today, and the reality that many forms of affordable housing fail to truly offer the same support that social housing can. The sentiment that the affordable housing requirement has been used to develop homes that still in fact remain out of reach of many in local communities is not new, and calls back to the timeless argument between commercial viability and the needs of the most vulnerable.

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This decision by Wiltshire also comes at a critical point for the debate, as the affordable housing requirement in London has just been slashed in a bid to spurn on housebuilding in the capital. Many have been critical of the decision, pointing out that market rate homes will do little to help reduce homelessness in the city, it’s social homes that are needed to support the most vulnerable. With the government’s headline goal of 1.5mn homes, and the latest housing secretary’s catchy slogan of “build, baby build”, there needs to be a focus on keeping new homes aligned with the needs of the people, rather than exerting resources on homes that will go underutilised.

Wiltshire’s hardline stance on the need for social housing could be a game changer, if we see a similar approach taken up by other local authorities. The facts are that in order to ensure that local authorities can begin to shift the disastrous financial drain placed on them by temporary accommodation, there must be social housing ready to support those who have found themselves priced out of the market. This group of people is one that is continuing to grow, as prices rise and the cost of living crisis tightens it’s grip on everyone, with many working professionals finding their savings whittled away and the breadline dangerously close.

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