Britain is becoming more segregated due to high house prices, a report reveals, as it emerged that the number of new “social rent” homes funded by the government fell to fewer than 10,000 last year. Official figures show that 70% fewer social rent homes, where rents are capped, came on to the market in 2014-15 compared with five years earlier at the end of the Labour government. An additional 40,000 “affordable rent” properties also became available, but at up to 80% of the market rate – considerably higher than for social housing.
The consequence of escalating rents and the lack of discounted homes has been greater segregation in society, according to a new report from theIntergenerational Foundation (IF). The number of neighbourhoods in which half the population is aged over 50 has risen sevenfold – from 65 in 1991 to 485 in 2014.