Affordable Housing - the differences between England and Wales

Despite Powys County Council's affordable housing policies, one wonders whether their policy really goes to the heart of the problem. I say this because Powys' policies require developers to offer their affordable housing on the open market to buyers who meet "locals-only" criteria which might include connections to the area by way of family ties or place of work etc. Their policies merely require the developer to sell at a discounted rate to those who have local connections. This policy to my mind has serious shortcomings as it cannot begin to purport to meeting genuine housing need. People who purchase these houses at discounted prices are able to compete on the open market and generally do not really need the "discount". Worryingly however is that people in real housing need (unable to get a mortgage and unable to afford to rent in the private sector) are not helped at all. What a difference the other side of Offa's Dyke! There developers are required to provide proper social housing - either in the form of rented social housing or shared ownership housing (where a maximum of 75% of the equity is purchased by a tenant and the remainder is rented from the affordable housing provider). In every case, the provider of the affordable housing is a Registered Social Landlord (RSL) - usually a Housing Association, which guarantees that the property genuinely meets the needs of people who just can't afford to buy or rent. We now see local authorities working closely with the Homes & Community Agency (the Government body responsible for strategic housing delivery) on new initiatives to free up stalled housing sites and viewing housing development as a key to the economic regeneration of their area. Local authorities are releasing sites for free as a way of kick-starting the building industry provided schemes meet affordable housing needs. The HCA and individual local authorities have collaborated to ensure high standards of design, including the provision of Code 4 homes (high standards of sustainablility). There appears to be joint working and an understanding of what is necessary to meet local housing needs.