Government Scrapping Affordable Starter Homes ‘Deplorable’, Say MPs

 A government plan to deliver discounted starter homes has left 85,000 young people waiting in vain for an affordable place to live, in a policy branded “deplorable” by a cross-party committee of MPs. The 2015 initiative to build 200,000 homes and sell them at a 20% discount was formally scrapped this year without a single home being built. But £173m was spent buying land, a damning report by the Commons public accounts committee said. It is now on course to deliver only 6,600 homes and is being replaced by a new scheme. Read more on the Guardian website.

 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/dec/09/government-scrapping-affordable-starter-homes-deplorable-say-mps

First Time Buyers – Parliamentary Written Answer

Baroness Thornhill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the essential differences between the existing legislation for Starter Homes and the new First Homes Initiative announced in the Queen’s Speech

Viscount Younger of Leckie: These new ‘First Homes’ will be made available at a discount of at least 30% and will be funded through developer contributions, reducing the cost to both local and national government. Unlike Starter Homes, First Homes will offer a larger discount to buyers that is retained in perpetuity, so that future generations can also benefit from the discount. Local Authorities will be able to prioritise these homes for local residents and key workers, such as nurses, teachers or police officers.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Lords/2020-01-07/HL178

Doubts Raised Over ‘First Homes’ Scheme

Industry leaders have questioned the delivery of the government’s proposed “First Homes” policy of selling discounted new-build houses to local buyers. The scheme was outlined as part of the Queen’s speech. The policy, which will see developers pay for homes to be sold at a 30% discount to local first-time buyers, has been compared to the failed £2bn Starter Homes programme, which ended up with no homes being built. Read why the new policy should be viewed with some scepticism on the Housing Today website.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/doubts-raised-over-first-homes-scheme/5103459.article

None Of Pledged Starter Homes Built, Says Watchdog

A government plan to create 200,000 new homes for first-time buyers has resulted in no homes being built, the National Audit Office has found. Announced in 2014, "starter homes" were meant to be aimed at those under the age of 40 and sold at a 20% discount. But legislation to take the project forward was never passed. MHCLG spent some £174m on acquiring and preparing sites.Labour called the policy a total failure, but the government said it had a "great track record" for house building. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50296672

Housing Minister Admits No Starter Homes Have Been Built Since 2016

Kit Malthouse has admitted that the government will fail to keep its 2015 election promise to build 200,000 starter homes by 2020. In 2016, the government allocated £1.2 billion to the ‘starter homes’ programme, which aimed to build 200,000 properties exclusively for first-time buyers at a 20% discount on their market value. When asked how many starter homes had been built since 2016, the housing minister stated: “At the moment, none”. This comes as housebuilders admit that they are unable to keep up with demand for Help to Buy properties. Read more on the Showhouse website.

https://www.showhouse.co.uk/news/housing-minister-admits-no-starter-homes-have-been-built-since-2016/

Government Restores ‘Social Rent’ To Definition Of Affordable Housing

The government has restored the term ‘social rent’ to the definition of affordable housing in its national planning rulebook after housing and council bodies voiced concerns.  The new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) now lists homes for rent “set in accordance with the government’s rent policy for social rent or affordable rent, or is at least 20% below local market rents” as one of several acceptable forms of affordable housing. A draft version of the updated NPPF published in March had removed reference to “social rent” while adding mention of Starter Homes and build-to-rent. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6kOB59TM7cgJ:https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/government-restores-social-rent-to-definition-of-affordable-housing-57341+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&safe=vss

Action Needs To Combat 'Historic Low' Social Housing Numbers

The definition of “affordable housing” must include homes for social rent in forthcoming government changes to planning policy to tackle the historic low numbers of social rented homes across the country according to the Local Government Association. The LGA warns that homes specifically for social rent are at risk of being eliminated after a revision to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) dropped the reference to “social rent” homes from the Government’s definition of affordable homes, whilst including Starter Homes and other, less genuinely affordable, forms of housing. It comes amid an already “unprecedented shortage” in affordable housing with the supply of homes for social rent, which provides secure tenancies on low rents, at a historic low. Read more on the LGA website.

https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/action-needs-combat-historic-low-social-housing-numbers

Concern Over Plan To Drop Social Rent From Official Definition Of Affordable Housing

The proposed revision National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) drops reference to ‘social rent’ from its glossary definition of affordable housing – but adds the mention of Starter Homes and build-to-rent. In its response to a consultation on the draft document, the National Housing Federation (NHF) said: “The removal of the term ‘social rent’ is worrying. “While the revised definition can be interpreted to include social rent, we believe the term should be explicitly retained.” It added that Starter Homes should not be included in the definition and branded mention of build-to-rent as “confusing”. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:rhUMVVYpcfEJ:https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/concern-over-plan-to-drop-social-rent-from-official-definition-of-affordable-housing-56302+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&safe=vss

Will The Tories' Starter Homes Initiative Ever Get Off The Ground?

Is anything ever likely to come of the starter homes initiative? It was launched by George Osborne towards the end of 2014 but there has been little news since, beyond a few stories regarding funding concerns. Meanwhile, the starter homes newsletter, which was getting increasingly infrequent and was only ever a series of adverts for developments (none of which contained starter homes) seems to have dried up, and the dedicated starter homes website simply links back to a generic new homes website, as it did when it was launched. Given the dearth of news about the starter homes scheme, it’s tempting to think that it has been quietly shelved. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2018/may/09/uk-starter-homes-initiative-theresa-may-target

£250m Spent But No Starter Homes Yet Built Under Flagship Fund

The government has spent £250m to boost starter home construction without a single property being built so far, it has emerged. Dominic Raab, the housing minister, made the admission in response to a question from John Healey, the shadow housing secretary, who described the situation as “a betrayal of young Brits looking for help to buy a first home”. In March 2016 the government announced a £1.2bn fund to help deliver “200,000 quality starter homes by 2020 exclusively for first-time buyers at a 20% discount on market value”. The promise was originally made in the Conservatives’ 2015 election manifesto. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/may/02/250m-spent-but-no-starter-homes-built-under-flagship-fund

Housing Secretary Fails To Spend £72m Affordable Homes Cash

Housing Secretary Sajid Javid was forced to “surrender” £72m in affordable homes cash as it was deemed “no longer required” this year.  Javid has admitted a total of £817m of the MHCLG budget is being sent back to the Treasury as his department had failed to spend the cash. In an “explanatory memo”, Javid, who had housing added to his communities and local government brief in January, said the huge sum was no longer needed in 2017/18. The unspent cash includes:

• £65m for London, where housing pressures are most acute
• £329m for the Government’s flagship ‘starter homes’ programme for first-time buyers

Read more on the Huffington Post website.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/sajid-javid-surrendered-housing_uk_5a953660e4b0699553cc1e38

Tories Drop Two Flagship Housing Policies From Key Strategy Document

Two of the Conservatives’ flagship housing policies have been dropped from a key government document, raising questions about the future of the plans. The new “single departmental plan” published by the CLG does not include a single reference to Starter Homes, which form a central plank of the Government’s commitment to increase home ownership, or of the planned extension of Right to Buy. The document, which forms part of the guidance for civil servants working on housing, is in stark contrast to the previous plan published last year, in which the two policies featured prominently and were mentioned several times as part of the Conservatives’ housing strategy. Read more on the Independent website.

Extra £2billion For Affordable Homes Funded By Cuts To Other Housing Schemes

Theresa May’s conference pledge to invest an additional £2billion is coming from a cut in spending on other house building programmes, it has been revealed. The Prime Minister used her speech in Manchester in October to announce extra money would be pumped in to the affordable housing budget, as part of her drive to get “government back into the business of building houses.”But it is not new money, and is instead being raised “by reducing spending on ‘accelerated construction’ and ‘starter homes’ across the four years from 2017-18 to 2020-21.” Read more on the Huffington Post website.

Housing Plan Fails To Deliver A Single Home In Three Years

A flagship government programme to deliver 200,000 discounted new homes to first-time buyers is yet to see a single one built. The 2014 Starter Home initiative was touted as part of “a major push” to help people on the housing ladder, but officials admit delivering any properties under the scheme remains an “ambition”. It promised to achieve its target by pushing councils and developers to bring forward unused land and build on old industrial sites. The initiative’s lack of progress also comes as Labour claimed Conservative spending plans since 2010 have stripped £20bn out of UK housebuilding projects, robbing the country of an extra 280,000 homes. Read more on the Independent website.

New Homes: Where Is The Supply Being Concentrated?

Since the seventies, housing starts and completions across England and Wales have been on a downward trajectory. The long run average over the last 50 years has been around 180,000 per annum, with the highest numbers being achieved at the start of this period and the lowest in the immediate aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2007/08. Over the last few years government initiatives, including the Starter Homes Fund, Housing Zones and Get Britain Building to name a few, have been launched to help stimulate the house building industry. This plus a recovery in the housing market has resulted in a pick-up of supply taking both starts and completions in line with each other at about 150,000 in 2015/16. Read more on Estate Agent Today.

Housing: Construction – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey:  To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution of 28 November 2016, Official Report, column 1229, who the intended recipients are of the Government's £25 billion investment; how much each of those recipients will receive; and on what basis that funding will be granted.

Gavin Barwell: The Government’s planned £25 billion investment in housing means we expect to double, in real terms, our annual capital spending on housing over this Parliament. The funding includes:

·        £7.1 billion to deliver affordable housing.

·        £2.3 billion to deliver starter homes across the country to support first time buyers.

·        £8.6 billion to extend the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme to 2021 which will help more people take steps towards owning their own home.

·        £2.3 billion for a new Housing Infrastructure Fund which will be allocated to local government on a competitive basis. The Fund will provide infrastructure targeted at unlocking new private house building in the areas where housing need is greatest.

·        £3 billion for the Home Building Fund, including £1 billion for loans of up to five years and aimed at SMEs and custom builders. £2 billion of the fund is available for larger sites and infrastructure with a much longer loan period.

·        £1.7 billion of funding to pilot ‘accelerated construction’ to speed up house building on surplus public sector land

Implementation Dates For Housing Act Policies

Regulations introducing Starter Homes are due to come into force in the summer. Housing and Planning Act implementation dates:

·         Starter Homes, in force this summer

·         Secure tenancies, in force this autumn

·         Higher Value Asset sales, in due course, no detail is given on the timing

·         Brownfield registers, spring

·         Housing association insolvency regime, regulations will come before parliament in February

·         Self-build and custom building regulations, 31 October

·         Planning obligations and affordable housing, remains under review

Read more on Inside Housing.

More Than Half Of Tenants In PRS Cannot Afford To Buy

More than half of people who rent a home in the UK are doing so because they cannot afford a deposit to buy a property. There have been several announcements recently about building more affordable homes and research showing that some aspiring first time buyers cannot afford even the new starter homes. Now research shows that 52% living in a rental property said they cannot afford to buy and 25% do not meet the lending criteria for a mortgage. Read more on the Property Wire website.

First Wave Of Starter Homes Reignites Distortion Fears

The first wave of Starter Homes will be sale-only products, reigniting fears over their distorting effect on local housing markets. Housing minister Gavin Barwell had suggested some ‘Starter Homes’ would be rent-to-buy products. The government has confirmed that all homes built on brownfield sites by the 30 partner councils would be entirely for-sale products. These councils will use a share of £1.2bn of government cash to prepare brownfield sites for large developments of the homes, which will be sold at 80% of market value. Experts warned these units could be almost impossible to value against market rates and may even create a sub-market for Starter Homes, as demand for these cheaper properties spirals, skewing prices. Read more on Inside Housing.

Green Light For Construction Of Thousands Of New Starter Homes

The Government has given the go-ahead to 30 local authorities to spearhead its new discounted homes scheme for 23 to 40-year olds. The first Starter Homes will be built on brownfield sites across the country. The first wave of 30 local authority partnerships were selected for their potential to get housing scheme going quickly. These partnerships will have access to the government’s £1.2bn Starter Homes Land Fund. Councils will work closely with the HCA to identify and take forward further land opportunities for the fund. The first places will begin construction later this year along with sites supported by the HCA. Read more on the Construction Enquirer website.