SmartShare are pleased to announce that they have signed up over 150 of the top housing associations in the UK.

Click here to view some of their testimonials:

According to recent NHBC statistics, July saw a dip in registrations (from 14,565 in June to 11,310 in July); however nearly 6,000 more new homes were registered with NHBC in May - July 2011, compared with the same period last year (from 30,771 to 36,716).

Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of NHBC, said: "We have seen growth in registration numbers; however, given the reduction in central Government funding for social housing, we will need to see an upturn in private demand if the increase in volumes is to continue over the next few years.

"In order for the UK to build the higher volumes identified by consecutive governments as required to meet population and household formation, difficult issues such as greater mortgage availablility and consumer confidence during current economic volatility will need to be addressed."

NHBC statistics for the rolling quarter May - July 2011 also show that:

Affordable home hunters thinking of buying a new property should consider acting quickly for two reasons.

Firstly the average price in May has risen to £228,041, the highest level since October 2008. This is good news from a property investment perspective however caution is noted as Springtime is predominately a busy period coupled with the continued low base rate.

Secondly, demand continues to be very high for new properties and affordable home buyers may wish to snap up the homes available now. With only 34,000 new home planing permissions granted in Q1 2011 the lack of supply will continue to outweigh demand.

Increasing the volume of new affordable homes must be a top priority for many local authorities and strive to meet the market demand by first time buyers and affordable homes prospectives.

If you are looking for an affordable home, go to the largest selection in the UK from all the top housing associations www.smartshare.co.uk

Looking for an idyllic affordable home set in parkland, along canal side walks and country walks? Wolverton Park’s award-winning town houses, mews houses, apartments and maisonettes are available just four minutes by train to Milton Keynes Central and within an hours commute of London and Birmingham.

The Places for People shared ownership scheme is available offering different purchase options suitable to your personal circumstance, whether you choose part buy part rent or perhaps a long term rental option. Shared ownership mortgages are also available and if you don’t have a deposit, you can borrow up to 100% of the price of your new home.

Still not sold? Place for People also offer a peace of mind guarantee, whereby if you decide to sell your home within the first three years, they will buy it back from you at the price you paid for it.

A2Dominion New Homes, has officially launched a new affordable homes scheme and invited film and TV star Idris Elba (who grew up in the area) to unveil the plaque 'Elba House' named after him.

The project has transformed a derelict factory site with 23 new homes for affordable rent and part-buy part-rent all aimed at local people.

Idris Elba, nominated for a Golden Globe for British drama Luther and who starred in American hit TV series The Wire welcomed the new development and said “As a former Hackney resident myself, I’m pleased to officially open Elba House at the Andre Street development, which is bringing modern, affordable new homes to local people.”

Danny Lynch, Development Director (London) for A2Dominion New Homes, said: “We’re delighted to name Elba House after Idris Elba, who has strong links to the Hackney area.

Triodos Bank has agreed to loan High Bickington Community Trust £2m to begin the community owned-project.

The project will provide 18 affordable homes of part buy part rent and rented homes to local people, targeted at key workers and those people who want to stay within the village. New jobs and a green energy plan is also being created on the 7.2 hectare development along with community buildings such as a new primary school, games area and community woodland planned for the future.

The Homes and Communities Agency has invested £360,000 in the first phase of the development.

If you are looking for a part buy part rent home, go to SmartShare the largest affordable homes website in England www.smartshare.co.uk

If the target of creating 150,000 new affordable homes is to be met by 2015, innovative measures will needed to be introduced and housing associations will need flexibility to use some of their stock for low-cost homeownership or outright sale.

In September housing association London and Quadrant (L&Q) and Pricewaterhouse Coopers issued a report entitled Hard Times 2 and it states that the use of different tenures will be required to meet the financial capacity.

The government has said housing associations will be able to charge up to 80 per cent of market rent to allow them to continue to build homes despite cuts to government grant. The landlord estimated that increasing rents by £1 a week and reducing operational costs by £1 could generate £4 billion across the social housing sector for new homes but this alone will not allow landlords to build the number of homes the government wants to see.

It is widely known that there is a distinct disparity between the demand and supply in the housing market which has also impacted new affordable housing being built across the UK . As the population continues to grows, the housing market has not kept up resulting in not enough homes being built. To compound this situation, last year house building levels fell to its lowest level in decades and the Government has created a set of new measures to deal with this.

One of the first decisions that the new Government has changed is the control over housebuilding from central government to local authorities and the community encouraging local delivery of sustainable development where it's needed and wanted, so that communities can really benefit from housing growth.

As part of this shift the Government has recently announced that they will extend a new Community Right to Build across England as part of the new Localism Bill.

Grant Shapps, Housing Minister said:

The government has begun a crackdown on thousands of cheats who have fraudulently acquired or sublet their council and housing association homes. Over 140 councils have signed up to this pledge and will benefit from a share of £4m to set up their own anti-fraud initiatives.

It is thought up to 50,000 homes in England are sublet by people who live elsewhere and earn thousands of pounds by charging higher rental rates for the properties. John Healey, Housing minister, recently said "We can't allow cheats to hang onto the tenancies of council houses they don't need and don't live in. I want people to feel the system for housing families who need homes is fairer."

Mr Healey will hand over information of up to 8,000 potential cheats based on the Audit Commission results that compared tenancy records against those held by councils, housing associations and other public bodies.

The government has unveiled a new plan to stamp out benefit cheats who claim state handouts while living abroad.

UK taxpayers lost £66million last year from fraudsters living overseas including Spain, Portugal and the USA who fail to tell officials they have moved abroad or continue to claim benefits for people who have died. Fraudsters have also claimed cash while working overseas, have exaggerated disabilities or have failed to report assets, including savings, property and even yachts.