Homes and property Manchester housing strategy

Definitions

Manchester’s definition of affordable housing 

Manchester’s definition of affordable housing truly reflects the experiences and circumstances of people living in the city. To be classed as affordable a property must cost no more, in rent or mortgage, than 30% of the current average gross household income of a Manchester resident of £27,000 (both earned or through benefits). This equates to up to £675 per month for rent and up to £121,500 (excluding deposit) to buy a home.  

Performance against Manchester’s definition of affordable housing 

In Manchester we review annual property sales to look at how many of our properties are affordable. In the last year 41% of all owner occupied sales met our affordable definition. 

The Government’s approach to affordable housing 

The Government considers housing affordable where it is social rented, affordable rented or intermediate housing such as shared ownership or rent to buy. Rented housing is considered affordable if it costs no more than 80% of the local market rent. Government measure the numbers of affordable houses available through planning approvals.

In Manchester the average market rent for a two-bed home is £833. In Tower Hamlets, London the average rent for a two-bed home is £1,869 and Bristol the average is £1,033. The higher the rent, the higher the household income needs to be to afford it and this is why Manchester’s definition is linked to average earnings and not the local market. 

Performance against the Government's approach to affordable housing 

In the last five years (from 2012-2017) 1,223 affordable homes were built - that’s 17.3% of all new homes.  

How many affordable homes have been given planning permission or built? 

From 2015 to 2017, a total of 1,173 homes given planning permission were affordable. 
We also monitor the number of new homes built in the city. We’re aiming to build nearly 2,200 more affordable homes by 2021 and expect that over a 1,000 of these affordable homes will be on site by the end of 2017/18.

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