Recommendations & Conclusions
20 items
2
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
The Department’s reliance on developer contributions to fund First Homes is a complex mechanism lacking transparency and risks less money being available to local authorities for housing and infrastructure. First Homes differ from Starter Homes as they will be sold at a higher discount, only to local first-time buyers, and …
Government response. 2. PAC conclusion: The Department’s reliance on developer contributions to fund First Homes is a complex mechanism lacking transparency and risks less money being available to local authorities for housing and infrastructure. 2: PAC recommendation: As part of the First …
HM Treasury
3
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
We are disappointed that the Department remains unable or unwilling to clarify how it will achieve its ambition of 300,000 new homes per year by the mid-2020s. We are wearily familiar with the Department’s lack of clarity over how it intends to meet its ambition—not target—of 300,000 new homes per …
Government response. 3. PAC conclusion: We are disappointed that the Department remains unable or unwilling to clarify how it will achieve its ambition of 300,000 new homes per year by the mid-2020s. 3a: PAC recommendation: We are frustrated that once again we …
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
We welcome Homes England’s commitment to provide us with regular updates on its progress delivering affordable housing, but we are concerned that it and the Department has yet to clarify what ‘affordable’ actually means, and how much it costs to deliver affordable housing. The Department claims that ‘affordable’ means different …
Government response. 3. PAC conclusion: We are disappointed that the Department remains unable or unwilling to clarify how it will achieve its ambition of 300,000 new homes per year by the mid-2020s. 3a: PAC recommendation: We are frustrated that once again we …
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
The long-term success of the Department’s housing policies depends on it being able to engage effectively with organisations across the housing sector and provide clarity on funding, without losing sight of the needs of those who are unlikely to be able to buy or rent their own home without support. …
Government response. 4: PAC conclusion: We welcome Homes England’s commitment to provide us with regular updates on its progress delivering affordable housing, but we are concerned that it and the Department has yet to clarify what ‘affordable’ actually means, and how much …
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (the Department) about its Starter Homes policy and other policies that aim to support people who need help to secure a home.1
Government response. 2020. This sought views on the key considerations associated with cash access, including deposit and withdrawal facilities, cash acceptance, and regulatory oversight. The government is considering the responses and will seek to set out its next steps in due course. …
HM Treasury
40
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
The November 2015 Spending Review provided £2.3 billion to support the delivery of 60,000 of these planned homes.4 From 2015, the Home Builders Federation administered a register of people interested in buying a Starter Home, on behalf of the Department.5
Government response. The November 2015 Spending Review provided £2.3 billion to support the delivery of 60,000 of these planned homes. From 2015, the Home Builders Federation administered a register of people interested in buying a Starter Home.
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
Homes England forecasts that around 36% of homes (2,370 of the total 6,600 planned homes) built on the land remediated through funding intended for Starter Homes will meet the definition of affordable housing.16 We were concerned though that funding intended to support first-time buyers will in fact result in so …
Government response. 2020. HM Treasury, the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (the department) and the British Business Bank (the Bank), based on a limited evidence of the underlying challenges for businesses, developed the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (the Scheme). The …
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
We asked the Department about the similarities between the new First Homes policy and the Starter Homes policy. The Department emphasised how they differ: • First Homes will be sold at a higher discount of at least 30%, compared with 20% for Starter Homes; • the discount will exist in …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
The Department told us that this was not going to be a quick policy to implement and it did not yet have a timetable for implementing First Homes or a target for how many it wants built.21 It explained that it was planning a pilot to build 1,500 First Homes …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
The Department explained that the First Homes discount will be funded through contributions from developers.24 Local authorities will be expected to ensure 25% of affordable homes built by developers contribute to the First Homes initiative.25 However, we have previously criticised approaches which rely on developer contributions—the Community Infrastructure Levy and …
Government response. 2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 2.2 Under the new First Homes policy, developments will be expected to capture the same amount of value for affordable housing as they do now. The First Homes requirement will …
HM Treasury
10
Recommendation
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
We have previously challenged the Department on its detailed plans and projections for how it would achieve its target of building 300,000 new homes per year by the mid- 2020s, most recently in our report Planning and the broken housing market. We were concerned that meeting the target of 300,000 …
Government response. 3.1 The government disagrees with this recommendation. 3.2 The department has and continues to be transparent about its objectives, and the progress towards them. In June 2019, the department published its latest Single Department Plan, including strategic objectives to increase …
HM Treasury
11
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
We were disappointed that the Department remained unwilling to clarify how it will achieve this rate of building, which it now refers to as an ambition rather than a target. We asked why it thought that there should not be greater transparency about how it would achieve 300,000 new homes …
Government response. 3.1 The government disagrees with this recommendation. 3.2 The department has and continues to be transparent about its objectives, and the progress towards them. In June 2019, the department published its latest Single Department Plan, including strategic objectives to increase …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
The Department explained how its reforms to the planning system were intended to speed up building and, through increasing certainty with the system, encourage more small and medium-sized developers to build homes. It told us that it was also looking to encourage a greater range and variety of homes on …
Government response. 3.1 The government disagrees with this recommendation. 3.2 The department has and continues to be transparent about its objectives, and the progress towards them. In June 2019, the department published its latest Single Department Plan, including strategic objectives to increase …
HM Treasury
13
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
We asked the Department what it now meant when it referred to ‘affordable’ housing, particularly in relation to the funding originally intended for Starter Homes that was subsequently redirected to a broader range of housing, including affordable homes.33 The 28 PAC’s Report, para 1 29 Q 68, HM Treasury, Government …
Government response. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.2 The government defines affordable housing in the National Planning Policy Framework, Annex 2. This applies to a range of tenures including affordable housing for rent, starter homes, discount market …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
Homes England told us that the number and proportion of affordable homes planned for the sites intended for Starter Homes has increased from 1,700 (29%) to 2,370 (36%), reflecting an increased focus on affordable housing.37 However, Homes England was unable to tell us how much each affordable home on these …
Government response. 4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.2 The government defines affordable housing in the National Planning Policy Framework, Annex 2. This applies to a range of tenures including affordable housing for rent, starter homes, discount market …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
First Homes, and previously Starter Homes, are aimed at people who want to own their own home and have an income, as the schemes require applicants to raise a mortgage. They are not schemes intended to help house people in temporary accommodation or who are homeless. We asked the Department …
Government response. 5. 1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2021 5.2. The department accepts the Committee’s recommendation to explain how it is addressing the problems of homelessness, rough sleeping and families in temporary accommodation, and will …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
The Department and Homes England told that they were trying to encourage the building of smaller, cheaper homes through investing in firms that build modular homes and encouraging sites with high levels of modular construction. It explained it was looking to increase demand for this type of home. However, Homes …
Government response. 5.6 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 5.7 Target implementation date: Autumn 2021 5.8 The department is clear that new technology and innovation have improved productivity, quality and choice across a range of sectors and the government wants to …
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
We asked the Department how it would ensure that its approach delivered the right kind of homes in the right places.44 We heard from the Department about a range of other actions it is pursuing: • It wants its planning reforms to encourage more small and medium-sized developers to be …
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
We queried why student accommodation and converted offices count, in the Department’s statistics, as new housing when student accommodation is not necessarily a permanent home, and many office conversions are tiny, lack proper insulation, and could not be said to constitute a home. The Department countered that student accommodation relieved …
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Thirty-first Report - Starter Homes
Homes England recognised that success in delivering housing would rely on close working with local authorities, good relationships with developers and mindfulness over land value as the key determinant of delivery and maximising value for money from public subsidy of housing.50 We asked the Department about its plan for long-term …
Government response. 5. 1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: April 2021 5.2. The department accepts the Committee’s recommendation to explain how it is addressing the problems of homelessness, rough sleeping and families in temporary accommodation, and will …
HM Treasury