The Conservative leader of local government has urged peers to back amendments to the Housing and Planning Bill to support “genuinely affordable rented homes”.
In a letter to the Guardian, David Hodge, leader of the Local Government Association Conservative Group, said the government’s starter homes initiative risked displacing a “crucial supply of new affordable rented homes”.
He also asked peers to back amendments allowing councils to retain enough receipts from every home sold through Right to Buy to be able to replace it in the same area.
Councils should be able to decide how many starter homes, alongside affordable rented homes, are on each development, he added.
The letter was jointly signed by Sharon Taylor, deputy leader of the LGA Labour Group, Marianne Overton, leader of the LGA Independent Group and Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of the LGA Liberal Democrat Group.
Housing minister Brandon Lewis told the Guardian the polices were intended to help people realise their ambition to own their own home, adding that 86% of people still aspired to home ownership.
He also said councils should push for other forms of affordable homes on top of the government’s scheme.
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