Government’s starter homes policy means fewer affordable new homes for Market Deeping

Larkfleet Homes have submitted a planning application to South Kesteven District Council wanting to build 240 homes on Towngate East in Market Deeping.

This does not come as a surprise as the site is allocated for housing. It follows the planning application by Larkfleet for a commercial development on the nearby land on Peterborough Road which was approved last year.

Unfortunately the plans show that some of the affordable housing required by planning rules will be "starter homes". This in anticipation of changes the Government is seeking to make in the Housing and Planning Bill currently being considered by Parliament. This may both change the meaning of the term "affordable homes" to include "starter homes", and force local councils to require they are built.

Housing charity Shelter says these are "a non-starter for low and typical earner". Their research suggests that "the only group it appears to help on a significant scale will be those already earning high salaries who should be able to afford on the open market without Government assistance".

So more genuinely affordable housing types like shared ownership or social rented are being squeezed out by the Government's efforts to change the meaning of the term affordable housing. The Local Government Association has said this could see the housing benefit bill grow "as more people are forced to move into the more expensive private-rented sector".

House builders like Larkfleet should not be able to use starter homes to meet their obligation to provide affordable homes or be forced to do so as these changes would mean. The National Housing Federation acknowledges that this "risks having a significant impact on the delivery of traditional affordable housing".

The Government should support home ownership but it should not come at the expense of the over 1 million people on council housing waiting lists. The Housing and Planning Bill will not help solve the housing crisis by requiring local councils to prioritise less affordable housing.