Housing minister Gavin Barwell said yesterday that new homes will be built on brownfield sites this year specifically for 23- to 40-year-old who have not owned property before, who will be given a 20% discount on the market value.
30 English local authority partnerships are planned – those able to get out of the ground first will get first dibs on the government’s £1.2bn starter homes land fund.
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) likes the idea but wants to see a role for the SME building firms that it represents.
FMB chief executive Brian Berry said: “It’s great to see the housing minister kick off 2017 by giving the green light to the first starter homes. These homes will help some first time buyers get a foot on the housing ladder, and our small house builders are enthusiastic about delivering on that vision, but starter homes will not be a panacea. A wider set of measures aimed at increasing the capacity of the house building industry are needed to overturn the long-term under-supply of new homes. Central to this must be getting small and medium-sized (SME) builders delivering more new homes. For instance, the announcement of 14 ‘garden villages’ and more garden towns needs to be backed up by implementation plans which provide opportunities to SME builders as well as the large companies.”
Mr Berry concluded: “These are positive messages to start the year with and they show that the government is putting house building at the front and centre of its ambitions for 2017. With a housing white paper expected in the next few weeks this will be an important year for housing policy and its success or failure will be a key part of the new PM’s legacy.”
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