There are three main types of housing which make up our housing system:
Affordable housing is an over-arching term for several different types of housing which are provided to eligible households whose needs would often not otherwise be met by the market. The most common forms of affordable housing are:
Affordable housing is therefore made up of several different types of ‘product’, which are aimed at different groups of people. Social rented housing is particularly vital for those on the lowest incomes - for many it is the only form of housing which is affordable. However, the high cost of housing doesn’t only affect the very poorest in society and many landlords provide different types of affordable housing to meet different needs.
Affordable housing is provided by several different types of landlords, most commonly:
These different types of organisation are often collectively referred to as ‘social landlords’.
One thing that all of these types of landlord have in common is that they all perform several ‘core’ housing management functions. These include:
Also, many organisations go far beyond these basic functions and provide other services to improve the communities they operate in and the lives of their residents. These may include, for example:
The range of services that social landlords provide is very varied, there is a wide range of different roles available for someone wishing to pursue a career in housing.