Housing Needs Assessment 2006 - Westminster City Council

GLOSSARYGLOSSARYAffordabilityA measure of whether households can access and sustain the cost of private sector housing. Thereare two main types of affordability measure: mortgage and rental. Mortgage affordability assesseswhether households would be eligible for a mortgage; rental affordability measures whether ahousehold can afford private rental. Mortgage affordability is based on conditions set by mortgagelenders – using standard lending multipliers (2.9 times joint income or 3.5 times single income(whichever the higher)). Rental affordability is defined as the rent being less than a proportion of ahousehold’s gross income (in this case 25% of gross income).Affordable housingHousing of an adequate standard which is cheaper than that which is generally available in the localhousing market. In theory this can comprise a combination of subsidised rented housing andsubsidised low-cost home ownership (LCHO) including shared ownership.Annual needThe combination of new needs arising per year plus an allowance to deal progressively with part ofthe backlog of need.AverageThe term ‘average’ when used in this report is taken to be a mean value unless otherwise stated.Backlog of needHouseholds whose current housing circumstances at a point in time fall below accepted minimumstandards. This would include households living in overcrowded conditions, in unfit or seriouslydefective housing, families sharing, and homeless people living in temporary accommodation orsharing with others.DisaggregationBreaking a numerical assessment of housing need and supply down, either in terms of size and/ortype of housing unit, or in terms of geographical sub-areas within the City.PAGE 161