The Housing and Planning Bill, which includes controversial policies such as starter homes and Right to Buy, has received royal assent after heated debate in parliament.
A battle between the Lords and the Commons ended this week after Lord Kerslake backed down on an amendment to give councils “sufficient” funding to replace affordable homes sold to fund the extension of the Right to Buy scheme to housing association tenants.
Peers and ministers had also debated the starter homes policy – a new affordable housing tenure which will give first-time buyers a 20% discount on the market rate to buy new homes or flats.
Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said it was good that the industry now had clarity about the starter homes initiative, but said the government was at risk of failing to deliver on its promise of delivering 200,000 new homes by 2020.
She said: “The longer the government takes to iron out the details of this policy, the more that target slips into the distance. Spades are not likely to be in the ground until 2017 at the earliest, and time is running out.”
It comes as the government prepares to launch a planning and infrastructure bill next week.
Measures to give local authorities greater compulsory purchase powers to drive through large regeneration projects, new powers for elected mayors, and the creation of a National Infrastructure Commission quango are all expected to be included in the new bill.
Leech said speculation was rife that more legislation could be introduced next week aimed at bringing forward development. “Most of all, we would like government to show that it truly understands the symbiotic relationship between infrastructure and development,” she said.
Click here to read Melanie Leech’s comment on railway hub projects.
