The Government has announced that it will be directly commissioning the construction of up to 13,000 new homes in London, Dover, Cambridgeshire, Chichester and Gosport in 2016. By directly commissioning the building of these homes, the Government can assume responsibility for the development instead of large building firms.
As a result, small and medium sized developers will be able to buy sites in these areas with full planning permission in place.
In addition, 40% of the new builds should be starter-homes which will hopefully help first time buyers get onto the market. Such homes are properties sold to first-time buyers under the age of 40 and are reduced in price by at least 20% of their market value. The value of such properties is also capped. By 2020, the Government hopes to build 200,000 starter homes.
Whilst Prime Minister David Cameron praised the announcement as a "huge shift in Government policy," it was not met with enthusiasm from shadow housing minister John Healey, who said: "In the Autumn Statement a few weeks ago, George Osborne tried to spin his halving of public housing investment as an increase. Now David Cameron is laying on the rhetoric to hide his failure on new homes."
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