because we live in social housing.
My rent is about £100 a week, for a 3 bed terraced house in a seaside village in the south east. We can easily pay this, and have 'plenty' of money to spare each week.
We can't however get anywhere near buying a house, because it's just too expensive, and we're also self-employed precariously so I doubt anyone would give us a mortgage.
So we should rent privately. Except our rent would then be £100-£150 more for a similar place per week. When I say we have plenty over, I certainly don't mean that sort of money.
So basically we can either stay put, taking up social housing that could be used for someone in need (as I once was), and saving/spending a couple of hundred a month. Or I can go private, where we would have to go to a cheaper area, change schools, cause problems for work, lose security and be utterly skint! (Like the rest of you)
The only conclusion is that my rent should be higher.