MPs question centralised powers and future provision of affordable homes under Housing and Planning Bill

The Bill, all of which is proposed to apply in England and some of which will apply in Wales, passed its second reading in the House of Commons last week after a debate that lasted seven hours.

Communities secretary Greg Clark said the objective of the Bill was to increase the supply of homes in Britain and to help those aspiring to own their own home. However, Labour MP and former housing minister John Healey said the Bill represented the "death knoll for our ability to build homes to rent and buy" and signalled "the end of localism".

Healey and several other MPs said the government's starter homes policy, through which first-time home buyers under the age of 40 will be able to buy homes at a 20% discount from market value, would not provide homes that were genuinely affordable to most people on average incomes. MPs questioned government claims that homes sold under the right for tenants of housing associations and council homes would be replaced and raised concerns that numbers of affordable homes would be reduced under the Bill.

MPs also called for the communities secretary to clarify and justify proposed powers for central government to prevent councils granting planning permission for developments if enough starter homes are not included; to intervene in the examination of development plan documents; to grant permission in principle for certain types of development project; and to grant central consent for developments of up to 500 homes associated with nationally significant infrastructure projects.

Planning expert Beth Grant of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "The Bill has been met with concern from both opposition and backbench Conservative MPs, as evidenced by the lengthy debate which took place during its second reading."

"Whilst the starter homes initiative may assist in getting some people onto the housing ladder, this should not be to the detriment of those who rely on other means of affordable housing such as shared ownership and social rental," said Grant. "Furthermore, the proposed cap on the price of starter homes (set at £250,000 outside of London and £450,000 in London) does call into question just how affordable those homes will be to the majority of people on an average income."

"The conferral of a number of new planning powers on the secretary of state is also a concern to many and has been viewed as a direct move away from the principles of localism. Whilst the driving force behind these changes may be a desire to speed up development, concerns have been raised that the Bill risks creating a series of mini-planning systems with permission in principle via neighbourhood plans, local plans and the brownfield register all existing alongside each other. This in itself could lead to confusion with resultant delays," Grant said.