Cambridge is horrendous in that respect. You can claim housing benefit* but it’s around 50-60% of median rent and so finding anything habitable on a low income is practically impossible.
We run a ‘social lettings agency’ where we try to procure and manage decent quality affordable accommodation but finding such properties is so hard. You’re basically relying on philanthropic types who aren’t looking to squeeze every penny out of their home**
* apologies if I’m teaching you to suck eggs on this point
** obviously there’s a whole different issue re the ethics of being a private landlord
