Housing Minister Gavin Barwell confirms 2017 will see the first Starter Homes being built on brownfield sites across the country.
Thousands of new homes backed with financial support will help more first time buyers into home ownership. They will be built exclusively for first-time buyers between 23 and 40 years old at a discount of at least 20% below market value.
The first wave of 30 local authority partnerships — selected on the basis of their potential for early delivery — will spearhead schemes. These partnerships have been established under the Government’s £1.2bn Starter Homes Land Fund, which supports the development of starter homes on sites across England.
These new developments will also support the wider growth and regeneration of local areas, including some town centre sites, and help make sure this is a country that works for everyone.
The first places will begin construction later this year along with sites supported by the Homes and Communities Agency.
Housing Minister Gavin Barwell said: “This government is committed to building Starter Homes to help young first time buyers get on the housing ladder. This first wave of partnerships shows the strong local interest to build thousands of Starter Homes on hundreds of brownfield sites in the coming years. One in three councils has expressed an interest to work with us so far.”
The Starter Homes Land Fund was set up to prepare suitable land for quality starter home developments which can be built on by developers or through accelerated construction by 2020.
Each local authority partnership will work closely with the Homes and Communities Agency to identify and take forward further land opportunities for the fund.
In addition, the Homes and Communities Agency has also today issued a call seeking expressions of interest from local authorities who are interested in using their land to deliver homes at pace through the £1.7bn accelerated construction recently announced. This will see up to 15,000 homes started on surplus public sector land this Parliament.
