Affordability and security

C1. For properties that are subject to the rent regulation regime, report against one or more affordability metric:

1) Rent compared to median private rental sector (PRS) rent across the local authority

2) Rent compared to Local Housing Allowance (LHA)

Our homes are affordable with general needs rents on average at around 70.1% of market rate across our varied geography.

Local authority	No. of properties	Average Karbon weekly rent	Average LHA for local authority	Karbon discount to LHA	Median private rent per local authority	Karbon discount to private rent
City of York Council	85	£122.04	£172.11	29.1%	£217.80	44.0%
Darlington Borough Council	13	£92.95	£101.70	8.6%	£117.61	21.0%
Durham County Council	10,078	£78.30	£91.89	14.8%	£104.76	25.3%
Gateshead Council	544	£85.29	£110.36	22.7%	£117.33	27.3%
Hartlepool Borough Council	316	£90.91	£102.37	11.2%	£113.58	20.0%
Leeds City Council	15	£92.99	£141.76	34.4%	£182.31	49.0%
Middlesbrough Council	135	£99.35	£105.81	6.1%	£117.47	15.4%
Newcastle City Council	2,958	£82.22	£111.27	26.1%	£162.04	49.3%
North Tyneside Council	1,119	£88.37	£107.86	18.1%	£123.75	28.6%
Northumberland County Council	5,459	£81.60	£103.56	21.2%	£109.33	25.4%
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council	111	£87.83	£102.35	14.2%	£111.27	21.1%
South Tyneside Council	868	£87.36	£113.31	22.9%	£112.60	22.4%
Stockton on Tees Borough Council	194	£102.55	£116.05	11.6%	£136.37	24.8%
Sunderland City Council	106	£82.45	£94.20	12.5%	£104.57	21.2%
Wakefield Metropolitan District Council	17	£108.05	£112.03	3.5%	£138.93	22.2%
Total	22,018	£81.49	£100.38	18.8%	£116.21	29.9%

Please note: The ‘Average Karbon weekly rent’ figure is based on our general needs homes (for properties under direct Karbon ownership). General needs homes are subject to social rent. It represents the classic definition of social housing available for rent at target rents, based on the Rent Influencing Regime Guidance. Sample sizes in the private rented sector were often small so can lead to varied results. The LHA average incorporates all categories (A to E).

C2. Share, and number, of existing homes (homes completed before the last financial year) allocated to all tenures:

Please refer to the following definitions when considering the tables in C2 and C3:

Affordable rent: Homes made available for rent at up to 80% of market rate.

Social rent: Social housing available for rent at or close to target rents on the basis of the Rent Influencing Regime Guidance.

Intermediate rent: Homes made available for reduced rent as an opportunity for the customer to save towards a deposit e.g. Rent to Buy.

Older people: Accommodation specially designated for older people.

Low-cost home ownership (LHCO): Includes shared ownership and shared equity homes.

Supported housing: Accommodation enabling customers to live or adjust to living independently despite specific needs.

Care home: Provides accommodation, meals and assistance with personal care but does not always employ nurses or medical staff.

The following figures represent stock balance at 31 March 2023 i.e. “homes completed before the last financial year”:

Existing numbers of Karbon homes by tenure, as at 31 March 2023:

House type	Number	Percentage
Affordable - General Needs	2,606	9.08%
Affordable - Older Persons	286	1.00%
Affordable – Supported	36	0.13%
Care Home	14	0.05%
Intermediate Rent	821	2.86%
LCHO (Shared Ownership)	836	2.91%
Non-Social Leasehold	41	0.14%
Non-Social Rental Housing	192	0.67%
Social - General Needs	22,018	76.69%
Social - Older Persons	769	2.68%
Social – Supported	482	1.68%
Social Leasehold	610	2.12%
Grand Total	28,711	100.00%

C3. Share, and number, of new homes (homes that were completed in the last financial year), allocated to all tenures:

Building on our £68m investment in 463 new homes in 21/22, we invested over £95m in delivering new homes in 22/23. This included the start on site of 762 new homes (against a target of 511) and the completion of 529 new homes.

We aim to build over 4,000 new homes across the North East and Yorkshire by 2028 drawing on £165m of Homes England grant funding for 2,200 of these homes. The funding allows us to provide a broad range of tenures including rural developments and supported housing allowing us to work more effectively with local authorities to provide more inclusive and sustainable places to live.

For example, we have begun work with South Tyneside Council where we were challenged not only to satisfy a housing need for extra care facilities but also to take the opportunity to reimagine a new and better model of living for older people. Our new plans move away from outdated designs, to refocus on providing a better quality of life and what that really means. We’ll be building three extra care schemes in the borough in the lead up to 2030.

Hebburn Gardens - 3D Visualisation

As part of our development programme, we will continue to significantly increase the number of homes we build across Yorkshire, which will be managed by our new subsidiary 54 North Homes.

New homes built (by tenure) 22/23

Tenures	Total number	Percentage
Affordable/intermediate rent	415	78.4%
Social rent	36	6.8%
Low-cost home ownership	78	14.8%
Total	529	100.0%

C4. How is the housing provider trying to reduce the effect of fuel poverty on its residents?

Our Money Matters Team provided energy crisis vouchers worth £8,278 to 220 customers who were struggling to pay their bills, due to the huge rise in energy costs. In terms of more structural interventions, the 2022/23 planned investment programme delivered around £5m of energy efficiency improvements to existing homes aimed at reducing customers’ fuel bills.

We recognise that fuel poverty will continue to be a challenge for our customers going forward and our cost of living working group is looking at the impact of our current interventions and how they can be improved.

C5. What % of rental homes have a three-year fixed tenancy agreement (or longer)

None of our general needs homes has a three-year (or longer) fixed tenancy agreement. We believe that assured lifetime tenancies are essential to build the stronger foundations and stable communities that we value.

Next section: Building safety and quality