Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

Few councils think starter homes will address affordable housing needs, report says

26 May 2016, 1:26 pm

Most local authorities in England think that viability testing hinders the delivery of affordable homes and very few think the government's starter homes policy will help address affordable housing needs, research has shown.

The National Planning Policy Framework requires that those engaging in plan-making and decision-taking do not place burdens on developers that threaten their ability to develop sites viably.

Research carried out by campaign group the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) and networking group the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) revealed that 96% of councils consider the need for affordable homes in their area to be moderate or severe.

However, 72% of councils said the government's viability requirements hindered the delivery of affordable housing. Only 7% of councils thought starter homes, sold to first time buyers at a discount from market value, would help address affordable housing needs, the research found.

The Housing and Planning Act, which received Royal Assent this month, will require councils to promote the delivery of starter homes and will enable the communities secretary to prevent planning permission being granted where too few starter homes are proposed.

Paul O'Brien, chief executive of the APSE, said the "so-called affordable homes" promoted by the government "remain out of reach for the vast majority of people". O'Brien called for the government to "start afresh by putting local authorities at the heart of a new housing strategy".

Kate Henderson, chief executive of the TCPA said: "Councils are concerned that government policy is not enabling them to deliver genuinely affordable housing – we need to have a housing strategy that provides affordable homes to all people."

Mike Pocock, planning law expert at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com said: "There is a clear tension between the government's commitment to deliver 200,000 starter homes by 2020 and the need to balance home ownership against traditional affordable housing types. The provisions included in the Housing and Planning Act are potentially a game changer for affordable housing although much of the detail is yet to be prescribed through regulations".