First time buyers in the UK will be able to buy a new starter home at a discount of at least 20% if they are aged between 23 and 40, the housing minister has confirmed.
Gavin Barwell has announced that the first of thousands of new Starter Homes will be built on brownfield sites across the country this year.
‘Thousands of new homes backed with financial support will help more first time buyers into home ownership. They will be built exclusively for first time buyers between 23 and 40 years old at a discount of at least 20% below market value,’ he said.
He explained that the first wave of 30 local authority partnerships, selected on the basis of their potential for early delivery, will spearhead the new schemes using the
Government’s £1.2 billion Starter Homes Land Fund which supports the development of starter homes on sites across England.
He pointed out that the new developments will also support the wider growth and regeneration of local areas, including some town centre sites and construction on the first homes will begin later this year along with sites supported by the Homes and Communities Agency.
‘This Government is committed to building Starter Homes to help young first time buyers get on the housing ladder. This first wave of partnerships shows the strong local interest to build thousands of Starter Homes on hundreds of brownfield sites in the coming years. One in three councils has expressed an interest to work with us so far,’ Barwell added.
However, some in the industry are sceptical as to how fast these kind if initiatives will be put in place. According to Mark Hayward, managing director of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), the construction needs to begin swiftly.
‘The dream of home ownership is too far out of reach for thousands of aspiring first time buyers and the building of new homes on disused brownfield sites, as well as a 20% discount for buyers aged 23 to 40 will go some way to bridging this gap,’ he said.
‘However, we must not throw caution to the wind. The Government has made promise after promise and pledge after pledge to help first time buyers get on to the housing ladder, but until we see these houses built we won’t hold our breath,’ he added.
The Starter Homes Land Fund was set up to prepare suitable land for quality starter home developments which can be built on by developers or through accelerated construction by 2020.
In addition, the Homes and Communities Agency has also issued a call seeking expressions of interest from local authorities who are interested in using their land to deliver homes at pace through the £1.7 billion accelerated construction recently announced. This will see up to 15,000 homes started on surplus public sector land this Parliament.
The Homes and Communities Agency received 79 expressions of interest from 120 local authorities across the country outside London, many involving joint submissions, in response to the Starter Homes land fund prospectus.
The £1.2 billion Starter Home Land Fund was established in April 2016 to support the acquisition, remediation and de-risking of further suitable land for starter home developments.
Some 71 sites across the country have already received investments, including land at Plymouth, Bury, Basildon, Stockport, Bridgwater, Cinderford, Minehead, Bristol, Trafford, Isle of Wight, South Ribble and Swindon.
