The government has launched two initiatives to boost housebuilding, rolling out a £26m fund for developers to build homes for first-time buyers and unlocking £10m for local authorities to prepare more ‘brownfield’ land for starter homes development.
Communities secretary Greg Clark said the £26m fund will “pave the way” for the first wave of starter homes and show young homeowners the different types of properties they can come to expect from the scheme.
The starter homes will be offered exclusively to first-time buyers aged under 40 with a discount of 20 per cent on market values.
The fund will support architects, developers, councils, housing associations and small builders to build properties that will increase the quality of design as the government delivers on its pledge to build 200,000 starter homes by 2020.
Prior to the general election, the Conservative party pledged to build 200,000 starter homes over the course of the next parliament, reserved for first-time buyers under the age of 40 and sold at 20 per cent less than the market price.
The £26m fund will be used to identify and purchase sites and prepare them this year and next, enabling more properties to be started in 2017 to 2018.
It will be used to acquire ‘brownfield’ sites - land that was previously used for industrial or commercial uses - to provide land for starter homes. Money from the sales of these sites will go back to the government, “securing good value for the taxpayer”.
Meanwhile, up to £10m grant funding will be open to councils to assist them in bringing forward brownfield sites that are currently underused or vacant, helping carry out preparation, clearance and infrastructure work to make them viable for starter homes.
Councils have until 2017 to get local plans in place or the government will work with their communities to write one for them.
These are one-off funds designed to accelerate provision of starter homes, the government added.
Andy Rose, chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, said that their land and development expertise will help even more first-time buyers into affordable home ownership.
“We look forward to working with our key delivery partners including councils, developers, housing associations, small builders and architects in taking this forward, through the identification and purchase of land suitable for exemplar starter home sites.”
donia.o’loughlin@ft.com
