Asked by: Nick Raynsford (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his Answer of 12 March 2015 to Question 226673, whether starter homes provided under his proposed exceptions policy could be counted towards off-site affordable housing obligations owed by developers under section 106 agreements made in respect of other development sites.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
I refer the rt. hon Member to my answer to him of 12 March 2015, Question 226673, and the associated guidance which outlines the exceptions policy in place.
Asked by: Nick Raynsford (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department made of the number of starter homes that could be provided on sites in commercial or industrial use that (a) were otherwise unlikely to be brought forward for residential purposes and (b) are not currently identified for residential development but which might be brought forward as a windfall element in a local authority's five year land supply when assessing the availability of land for starter homes under the proposed exceptions policy.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
I refer the rt. hon Member to my answers of 12 and 16 March to his Questions 226642, 226652 and 226673.
Asked by: Nick Raynsford (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Written Statement of 2 March 2015, HCWS 324, on starter homes, if he will estimate the number of homes that will be built in each local authority area under the proposed national exception site planning policy.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The policy enables applications to be considered at a local level. We have not produced precise estimates for each individual local authority.
Asked by: Nick Raynsford (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's proposed exceptions policy, whether starter homes can count towards affordable housing obligations on sites for development outside designated starter homes exceptions areas.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
I refer the rt. hon. Member to my Department’s guidance on the national starter home exception site policy, which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/starter-homes-guidance
Asked by: Nick Raynsford (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2015 to Question 226133, whether any of the homes built under the proposed starter homes exceptions policy will be built on land that might otherwise have been brought forward for housing development.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
I refer the rt. hon. Member to my Department’s guidance on the national starter home exception site policy, which can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/starter-homes-guidance
Asked by: Nick Raynsford (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, in evaluating the potential scope for the starter homes policy, what estimate he has made of the (a) area of land not otherwise likely to be designated for housing development, which might become available under the starter homes policy, and (b) number of homes built on such sites in the next five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
As laid out in the guidance on Starter Homes published by my Department, Starter Homes exception sites are expected to be on land that has been in commercial or industrial use, and which has not currently been identified for residential development. The types and sizes of site suitable for Starter Homes are likely to vary across the country, and will reflect the pattern of existing and former industrial and commercial use as well as local market conditions. Land in both public and private ownership can be considered
The Coalition Government’s goal is to deliver 100,000 new homes under the scheme. Already more than 30 house builders have said that they support the plans.
The Prime Minister has also set out Conservative Party policy intentions to take the scheme further in the next Parliament.
Asked by: Nick Raynsford (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for what reason the in perpetuity provision applicable to discounts in rural exceptions sites is not applied to homes developed under the starter homes exceptions policy.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government believes a five year restriction on the sale or letting of a Starter Home at its open market value under the new Starter Home exception sites planning policy strikes the right balance between discouraging short term speculation and enabling this generation of young first buyers into homeownership.
Asked by: Nick Raynsford (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department made when assessing the potential availability of land for its proposed starter homes policy of the proportion of sites that might otherwise be brought forward for residential development without the introduction of that policy.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
As laid out in the guidance on Starter Homes published by my Department, Starter Homes exception sites are expected to be on land that has been in commercial or industrial use, and which has not currently been identified for residential development. The types and sizes of site suitable for Starter Homes are likely to vary across the country, and will reflect the pattern of existing and former industrial and commercial use as well as local market conditions. Land in both public and private ownership can be considered
The Coalition Government’s goal is to deliver 100,000 new homes under the scheme. Already more than 30 house builders have said that they support the plans.
The Prime Minister has also set out Conservative Party policy intentions to take the scheme further in the next Parliament.
Asked by: Nick Raynsford (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many homes have been developed under the exceptions policy for affordable homes in rural areas in each of the last five years.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Information reported by local authorities on the provision of additional new build affordable housing on rural exception sites has been collected in the Local Authority Housing Statistics return since 2011-12 and is shown in the table below:
Provision of additional new build affordable housing on rural exception sites in England
2011-12 1,535
2012-13 981
2013-14 1,642
Source: Local Authority Housing Statistics return
Equivalent data was not collected prior to 2011-12.
Asked by: Nick Raynsford (Labour - Greenwich and Woolwich)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the (a) distribution between each local authority in England of the total number of homes built under the proposed starter homes exceptions policy over the next five years and (b) amount of section 106 and community infrastructure levy contributions foregone as a consequence of this policy.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Further to my Written Ministerial Statement of 2 March 2015, Official Report, Column 42-44WS, we do not anticipate any shortfall, as these are homes which would not otherwise have been built.
Councils will still benefit from the New Homes Bonus and council tax receipts from the new homes.