Start with what a household takes home
The proposal sets an affordability ceiling of 33% of net household income at entry. The starting point is the money available after tax and National Insurance. A household paying one third of that income in rent retains two thirds for food, energy, transport, childcare and everything else.
The rent is calculated from the cost of providing the home. The income test then establishes which households can afford that rent. The Trust applies that test at allocation; it does not increase an individual household’s rent when its earnings rise.
Illustration of the proposal’s allocation rule. Income remaining must still cover all other household costs.
Three rent figures have distinct roles
| Case | Monthly rent | Net income needed per month |
|---|---|---|
| Lower-cost reference | £714 | About £2,164 |
| Homepage target | £800 | About £2,424 |
| Costed pilot | About £1,053 | About £3,191 |
The reference illustrates lower-cost affordability. The £800 figure expresses the programme’s ambition. The costed pilot is the current delivery estimate. The pilot’s approximately £1,050 rent does not establish delivery at £800.
The proposal uses £714 in both a stripped-back reference and a scale sensitivity case with different cost assumptions. That figure is shown here as a rent comparison; the pilot’s full cost breakdown is set out separately on The full cost of a home.
The same rent serves different households differently
For an illustrative household with £2,425 net income each month, £800 rent takes just under 33% and leaves £1,625. At the pilot rent of £1,053, the same household would spend over 43% on rent and fall outside the entry affordability rule.
For a household taking home £3,200, £1,053 rent takes just under 33% and leaves £2,147. These examples show why the pilot serves a narrower income range than the lower-cost model. Reducing the funded cost widens the group it reaches.
These are examples of net household budgets. Gross salaries require additional assumptions: two earners can take home a different amount from a single earner on the same combined gross income. The proposal’s approximately £48,000 pilot income floor is a single-earner illustration, rather than a universal household threshold.
Affordability extends beyond the rent
The 33% rule measures rent against income. It does not turn rent into a complete household budget. Council tax, energy and other living costs remain part of the family’s expenditure. The home’s thermal specification and electric heating are therefore part of the affordability design, although this page makes no fixed promise about energy bills.
The proposed rent covers bond service, maintenance provision and management. It adjusts annually with CPI under the proposed lease. A 33% ratio at entry is not a promise that the ratio remains unchanged: household earnings and prices can move differently.
The calculation and its assumptions
Required monthly net income = monthly rent ÷ 0.33. Rent share = monthly rent ÷ monthly net income × 100. Figures are rounded to the nearest pound. These calculations use the proposal’s 33% ceiling, rather than exactly one third. They do not calculate tax, benefits or individual eligibility.