Tories Must 'Clarify Plans for Homes'

David Cameron’s new administration needs to sit down with housebuilders to thrash out plans to deliver 200,000 cheap starter homes, the chief executive of Barratt Developments has said. A key plank of the Conservatives’ election offering was a promise to build homes for first-time buyers under 40 on “brownfield” land. The discounts –up to 20 per cent on the market price – would be funded by the waiving of affordable housing payments made by developers to councils under Section 106 agreements, in return for gaining planning permission. The scheme began under the Coalition, promising 100,000 homes which was then doubled to 200,000 by the Conservatives during the election. It drew fire during the election from critics who claimed it would hit affordable housing provision and that the payments were too small to fund the discounts. Read more on the Independent website.