Starter homes pledge fails to build a single starter home.

200,000 starter homes will be built across England to be sold exclusively to first time buyers under the age of 40 by 2020.  That was the Government’s pledge in its 2015 manifesto.

After an investigation by the National Audit Office, NAO, it is revealed that no starter homes have been built.

Starter homes investigation.

The NAOundertook an investigation with the aim of establishing the status of starter homes policy and legislation. Also, to evaluate the impact of the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government’s, MHCLG’s, investment in starter homes.

To date, no such homes have been built because the government has not activated all of the necessary legislation or budgeted for them say the NAO.

The MHCLG previously stated that its overarching objective for new housing in England is to “support the delivery of a million homes by the end of 2020 and half a million more by the end of 2022 and put us on track to deliver 300,000 net additional homes a year on average.”

Number of new homes built remains lower than in the 1980s.

Since 2015, the number of new homes built has grown year on year but remains lower than in the 1980s.

The ambition to deliver 300,000 net additional homes is supported by an extensive and complex array of policies many of which pre-date this Parliament and have been carried over from previous housing programmes.

The programme to create Starter Homes is one of these and was first publicised in 2014.

Starter Homes Scheme was supposed to tackle the housing crisis

The 2015 Conservative Party manifesto committed to the scheme as a way of tackling the affordable housing crisis.

The project was also supposed to support the wider growth and regeneration of local areas, and some town centres.

More homes were meant to be built across the country by the end of the decade and more than £2bn was set aside for the first set of the building works to begin.

According to the National Audit Office (NAO), between 2015-16 and 2017-18, the MHCLG spent almost £174m on acquiring and preparing sites originally intended for building starter homes.

These were in places such as Plymouth, Bury, Basildon, Stockport, Bridgwater, Cinderford and Bristol.

But the NAO said the sites were all now being used for housing more generally, only some of which was affordable.

200,000 starter homes were included in the plan and were be sold at a 20% discount.

The November 2015 Spending Review provided £2.3bn to support the delivery of the first 60,000 of the 200,000 Starter Homes.

The Housing and Planning Act (2016) set out the legislative framework for starter homes and MHCLG ran a consultation on starter homes Regulations between March and June 2016.

Between 2015 and 2018, government’s policy towards starter homes shifted.

In May 2018, the Minister of State for Housing and Planning stated that the government had spent an estimated £250m of the Starter Homes Land Fund.

 In July 2018, the MHCLG clarified that it had spent £250m buying land to build affordable properties from two funds, the Starter Homes Land Fund and the Land Assembly Fund, with work underway to get the land ready for development, but that building had not yet started.

The legislation and planning needed was never put through Parliament.

The NAO said the scheme had faltered because the necessary legislation and planning guidance had never been put through Parliament, despite expectations it would happen in 2019.

As a result, even new homes conforming to the intended specifications cannot be marketed as starter homes, which has made getting developers on board challenging.

The government also no longer had a budget dedicated to the starter homes project.

“The MHCLG needs to focus on delivery and not raise, and then dash, people’s expectations.”

Labour MP Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Public Accounts Committee, said:

“Despite setting aside over £2bn to build 60,000 new starter homes, none were built.

“Since 2010 many housing programmes announced with much fanfare have fallen away with money then recycled into the next announcement.

“The MHCLG needs to focus on delivery and not raise, and then dash, people’s expectations.”

A housing ministry spokeswoman said house building was at its highest level for all but one of the last 30 years.

“We have a great track record… with 222,000 homes delivered last year, and 1.3 million in total since 2010, including over 430,000 affordable homes.”

David O’Leary, policy director at Home Builders Federation, said that even though starter homes had not got off the ground, the scheme had not been a total failure.

He said the engagement it had generated between local government, builders, mortgage lenders and valuers was positive.

“The difficulty in creating a workable set of rules demonstrates the importance of ensuring that proper consideration is given to the practical implementation of interventions and their market impacts as early as possible.”

If you are struggling with debt problems, Ramsey Lomax can help. contact Ramsey Lomax.

Ramsey Lomax.

“over 12 years of dedicated advice.”

“People struggling with debt should seek help as early as possible.”

This is good advice from a leading charity.  Taking the first step is always difficult but it is vital.  There is help out there and solutions that can help, but you need to take the first step towards getting good debt advice.  We have listened to the stories of 1000s of people and are constantly striving to help them.  It is our mission to explore all their options and find a solution to help them become debt free. And what’s more, we have helped 1000s to achieve their goals since 2007, over 12 years of dedicated advice.

Find out how Ramsey Lomax can help you and if you qualify to write off up to 80% of your debts.

RAMSEY LOMAX – helping 1000s of people since 2007

Getting help with debt problems is ‘vital.’

Finding a good debt advisor is often a relief.  At Ramsey Lomax, we have years of experience in helping people.  One thing to remember is that your chat with our advisors is completely confidential, free and without obligation. For many of our clients just getting it off their chests and having a sympathetic ear to talk to can make all the difference. At Ramsey Lomax, we understand ‘financial fear’.  We have helped 1000’s of people to find a lasting solution to their debt.

Ramsey Lomax – fully authorised and regulated by the FCA, the Financial Conduct Authority. We also have a 5 star Trustpilot rating.

Taking that first step is not always easy but is a crucial step towards helping you to find financial freedom.

Who we are – RAMSEY LOMAX

Contact Ramsey Lomax here.

• See if you qualify for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement. An IVA is a government-backed solution that could write of up to 80% of your debts.  Please read below for more information about other solutions that may be available to you.