Lord Bob Kerslake has withdrawn his amendment to the government’s starter homes proposals after it was rejected twice by MPs in the House of Commons.
The amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill would have allowed local authorities more flexibility to decide what form of affordable housing new developments should provide.
However, in a blow to housing minister Brandon Lewis, peers again voted to amend the government’s flagship Right to Buy proposals.
Lord Kerslake forced a vote which he won by 256 votes to 245, for an amendment which would see sales of high-value council homes reinvested in building replacements.
Lewis branded the intervention as “an unelected peer supported by Labour” trying to “effectively block 1.3m having access to home ownership.”
The government wants the money from high-value council homes sales to be used to fund an extension of Right to Buy to housing association tenants.
The bill has now returned to the House of Commons where MPs will once again consider the amendment.
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