Cameron to include Starter Homes in affordable housing

At the Conservative Party conference in Manchester today, David Cameron announced plans to make all new affordable homes built by property developers available to buy.

Related topics:  Finance News
Rozi Jones
7th October 2015
new build house

The government's 'affordable housing' programme will now include Starter Homes as well as properties for rent, and old rules requiring developers to provide a certain amount of affordable housing for rental purposes will be scrapped.

In May, the government announced plans to deliver 200,000 Starter Homes by the end of the decade, to be sold to first-time buyers under the age of 40 at 20% discount off the market price.

In his speech, Cameron will pledge a revolution "from generation rent to generation buy" in a bid to accelerate the building of discounted properties for first-time buyers and incentivise developers to build Starter Homes rather than rental properties.

He said:

“Those old rules which said to developers: you can build on this site, but only if you build affordable homes for rent, we’re replacing them with new rules: you can build here, and those affordable homes can be available to buy.

“For years politicians have been talking about building what they call affordable homes but the phrase was deceptive. It basically means ones that were only available for rent. What people want are homes they can actually own.

“When a generation of hardworking men and women in their 20s and 30s are waking up each morning in their childhood bedrooms, that should be a wake-up call for all of us. We need a national crusade to get houses built. That means banks lending, government releasing land and, yes, planning being reformed.”

Charles Haresnape, Group Managing Director, Mortgages, at Aldermore Bank, said:
 

“The lack of housing supply is the biggest challenge facing the housing market today. Until 1990, the number of homes built every year was over 200,000, but the total has only exceeded that level in four years since, during the period between 2004 and 2007.

“The announcement of a new relaxation of strict planning regulations to encourage housebuilders to develop affordable homes is a positive development for both first time buyers who are struggling to get on the ladder as well as to the housing market as a whole.

“There is still more that needs to be done to ensure that the housing market functions as well as possible for all involved, and initiatives such as this or proposals to free up brownfield sites are a welcome rebalancing towards more supply side measures, essential for a fully joined up housing policy.”

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