The majority of local authorities do not class starter homes as affordable, despite central government claiming they are…
It should come as no surprise that the government’s Starter Home project will not achieve what it was designed to do. The Local Government Association warned last month that Starter Homes were not affordable for first time buyers, despite being aimed at this group.Now a new survey from the Town and Country Planning Association has revealed only seven per cent of local authorities in England believe starter homes will address the need for affordable housing. This means four in five local councils do not believe discounted starter homes should be classed as affordable.
The Starter Homes scheme has been touted as a way of providing affordable property, enabling developers to replace shared ownership and affordable rented homes with properties sold at a 20 per cent discount on the market rate.
The survey asked some 353 councils in England what they thought of the scheme and the changes to right to buy, as well as social rents. The 105 that responded included a mixture of Labour, Conservative, and Liberal Democrat-led councils. A total of 59 per cent said the need for affordable homes in their area was severe. Some 87 per cent said the initiative would not address that need, while 79 per cent said Start Homes should not be classed as affordable.The survey also found that plans to reduce social rents by one per cent a year over the next four years has impacted many local authorities’ plans to build. Some 69 per cent said as a result they would create fewer social and affordable homes. Additionally, 90 per cent of respondents said the extension of Right to Buy to housing association property would lead to fewer homes available for social rent.
TCPA’s chief executive Kate Henderson said: “Low-cost homeownership, such as starter homes, may help some people get a first step on the housing ladder, but as the survey of councils highlights, this will not address the need for genuinely affordable homes.
“We need a housing strategy for the nation that provides decent homes for everyone in society, including those most in need in the current housing crisis.”
Shadow housing minister John Healey warned the results revealed a growing cross-party opposition to the housing bill, which is set to be debated in the House of Lords.
“Labour and Conservatives councils are united in their belief that government housing policies are failing, with fewer genuinely affordable homes being built and so-called starter homes a huge let-down for families and first-time buyers,” he said.
“It is a damning assessment of Conservative policy from the organisations that will have to deliver it.”
