Source · Select Committees · Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Paragraph: 99
We are concerned the Government is letting history repeat itself, rather than learning its lessons...
Conclusion
We are concerned the Government is letting history repeat itself, rather than learning its lessons from Starter Homes consultation. The Government has not conducted an analysis of the impact of implementing First Homes on the delivery of social housing through section 106 agreements. The Government has not conducted an analysis of the impact of implementing First Homes on the delivery of social housing through section 106 agreements. First Homes should be added as an affordable housing scheme under Annex 2 of the National Planning Policy Framework, so that local planning authorities can set out polices for which affordable tenures, including First Homes, best meet the needs of their local communities. The current proposals have the potential to negatively impact on social housing delivery. Furthermore, significant Building more social housing 55 regional variations in the value of planning obligations, which are especially low in the North of England, would mean on some development sites, First Homes might squeeze out all other tenures or by itself make the development unviable.
Paragraph Reference:
99
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Government recognises the important role of Affordable Housing and we are committed to increasing the supply of Affordable Homes across all tenures. We are mindful of the trade-off between the level of ambition for First Homes, funded through developer contributions, and the supply of other Affordable Housing tenures. As set out in our response to the First Homes consultation (published 6 August 2020), we carefully considered this balance to determine the appropriate level of developer contributions to reserve for First Homes delivery. For this reason, and in light of consultation responses and the current economic environment, we set a minimum requirement of 25% of these contributions to be delivered as First Homes. This is considerably lower that the options we consulted on (40%, 60% and 80%) as we believe that this figure most appropriately balances delivery of First Homes with the continued provision of other types of Affordable Homes. A new First Homes pilot programme to build 1,500 homes will be delivered through the Affordable Housing Programme, but other First Homes will be financed by developer contributions. These measures will increase both the supply and the range of Affordable Home ownership options to support people to access the homes they need.