Hackney Council’s first homes for a living rent should be available in Homerton later this year.

Eight homes at the Bridge House development that were going to be for private sale will be rented out at a “genuinely affordable” rate instead if the cabinet signs off plans on Monday.

The rent will be set at a third of average local incomes, which equates to about £900 a month for a two-bed property, compared to market rents of about £1,800 a month.

Because the government doesn’t allow councils to let out its own living rent homes, the council is setting up its own not-for-profit letting agency to manage the homes, as promised in its #BetterRenting campaign against rogue landlords. The discounted rent will be subsidised by the council renting out 25 homes it was given by Anthology on the Colville Estate at market rent.

Those homes were given to the town hall instead of cash owed by Anthology, but the town hall told the Gazette the deal did not allow for them to simply rent those ones out at living rent instead.

Mayor Phil Glanville said: “These new homes will provide a more affordable option to rent a modern, high-quality home while saving towards a deposit or household bills.

“Hackney’s 34,000 renters deserve a fairer deal, and whether it’s building our own genuinely affordable homes, enforcing against rogue landlords, or pushing the government to take radical action, we’re committed to doing everything we can to make renting in our borough better.”