The government’s starter homes initiative has been dealt a significant blow after peers in the House of Lords voted in support of two key amendments to the Housing and Planning Bill.
One would force starter home buyers to repay the 20% discount they receive if they sell up for a period of 20 years after they buy the property.
The amendment would be on a sliding scale, less 5% for every year they own the property.
The second amendment would allow councils to choose how many starter homes are built in their area in order to ensure affordable housing was available to those on low incomes.
The votes, made yesterday during the report stage of the bill, will put pressure on prime minister David Cameron to make key changes to the bill to prevent it being blocked by the lords.
Lord Best, who tabled the amendment to starter homes discounts, said it would ensure that the bill helped those on “lower incomes who struggle to find rented housing they can afford” rather than “better-off potential buyers”.
Lord Kerslake, the former head of the civil service and an independent crossbencher, said the amendment, to allow councils to choose the number of starter homes built, would make the bill fairer.
It comes after the Conservative leader of the Local Government Association called on peers to back amendments to the bill over fears some measures would drive people into homelessness.
Housing minister Brandon Lewis said the government was committed to its starter homes policy.
He said: “The government believes it is wrong that a 30-year-old couple’s aspiration should be thwarted by having to wait until they are 50 to benefit from the full value of their starter home.”
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