They have been in existence for more than 1000 years, with the oldest surviving one opened as far back as 990 in Worcester in order to provide a home for the infirm, needy and vulnerable.

But charitable almshouses are now being built at their fastest rate in decades, with a thousand new homes being created in the last 10 years, so much so they are being seen as an effective way of helping to tackle the shortage of social housing.

The Almshouse Association says it has recorded the biggest spike in development of housing run by charities since the Victorian era, with more being built to offer accommodation for elderly people who struggle financially in their retirement.

The oldest almshouse still in existence is the Hospital of St Oswald, in Worcester, which was founded in 990. There are 30,000 other individual almshouse homes dotted around the country, often built around a communal courtyard or garden, providing homes for 36,000 people.

Now another 700 are being built or are in the pipeline, with extensions of existing buildings and new developments in places such as Southwark, south London; Wokingham; the North East and Colchester.

Tenants are to given the right to demand three year letting agreements from their landlords.

James Brokenshire, the Housing secretary, will set out plans to give private tenants greater security in their homes.

The Government hopes that offering longer term contracts will enable tenants to put roots down and feel part of local communities.

Both tenants and landlords will be allowed a six month break clause in the agreements so both sides can walk away if there is serious disagreement.

Landlords will be permitted to increase levy once a year increases to rents to ensure they keep pace with any interest rate changes.

Officials said the plans would “help renters put down roots, and give landlords…

Councils and housing associations are letting nearly 22,000 fewer homes for social rent each year than they were two years ago, the latest Government figures show.

A statistical release put out by the Department for Communities and Local Government shows there were 261,163 social lettings by housing associations and 113,449 by councils in 2015/16 compared to 270,659 and 125,812 respectively in 2013/14.

The cut in genuinely affordable homes comes after a period of sustained cut in funding for building such dwellings, with grant funding for social rents all but abolished. The Government has also beefed up its Right To Buy scheme which has seen a sell-off of council housing to the private sector across the country.

Ministers have been directing house building funding towards building so-called “affordable” homes, which in fact cost tenants as much as 80 per cent of market rent; as well as discounted “starter” and shared ownership homes for people to buy

The number of buy-to-let mortgages taken out by landlords purchasing properties rose to its highest level in more than seven years in the summer, figures from banks and building societies show.

Between July and September, 33,600 new mortgages were taken out for property purchases, making it the busiest quarter since the end of 2007, according to data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Poor returns from savings accounts, coupled with rising prices and rents, have made property an increasingly appealing investment for savers. On Tuesday, research by the Office for National Statistics showed that while 25% of people thought paying into a workplace pension scheme was likely to prove the best way to save for retirement, 44% thought property was likely to make the most of their cash.

This year’s National Housing Federation’s annual conference in Birmingham will be my 10th as chief executive. A huge amount has happened in housing since last year’s event.

Housing associations have campaigned, and succeeded, in putting housing at the heart of a general election campaign for the first time. We have experienced a tightly fought campaign that, against all predictions, the Conservatives won with an outright majority.

In the aftermath of that dramatic result, we have seen the appointment of a new secretary of state for communities and local government, Greg Clark, and an array of new policies, including the extension of right to buy to housing associations, a 1% cut to social rents and changes to planning and public land.