Website of the UK government

What is 'affordable housing'?

This includes social rented housing and low-cost home ownership schemes which are available to people who find difficulty in buying homes on the open market. At least 30 per cent of all housing in eco-town developments will be affordable.

For more general information on low-cost home ownership, or renting a home, follow the link below.

• Buying, selling and renting a home (home and community section)

Changing housing needs

Housing needs have changed because more people are:

• choosing to live alone
• looking for affordable homes near to workplaces, schools, friends or family
• living longer and therefore remaining in their homes for longer

As a result, parts of the UK face housing shortages and many people cannot afford to buy their first home. Proposed eco-towns will help to provide some of the homes needed, in new communities with their own schools, shops and transport networks, as well as leisure facilities.

More affordable homes

Eco-towns will also allow you to save on living costs in the longer term because:

• they will be designed and built to use less energy, making homes environmentally friendly and cheaper to run
• homes will have frequent-running public transport close at hand - to reduce your travel costs
• homes will be built within ten minutes' walk of local services reducing the need for costly car journeys

Greener homes

It's proposed that homes in eco-town developments will need to meet strict environmental standards which cover:

• energy efficiency and water usage
• carbon dioxide emissions

These standards have been set out to make sure eco-towns are 'greener' developments.

Eco-town communities

It's proposed that eco-towns will be run so that:

• people living in these communities and those nearby will be consulted about future development
• sustainability targets (which ensure that development today doesn't harm the possibility of future generations meeting their own needs) are met

More useful links

• Home ownership schemes (home and community section)

• Climate change: a brief history (environment and greener living section)

• Greener living: a quick guide to what you can do (environment and greener living section)

• Sustainable development (environment and greener living section)