Labour blasts government over £250m housing scheme that ‘has not seen any homes built’

Labour has accused ministers of “betraying” young people by spending millions on a new homes programme that has yet to see any houses built.



The ‘Starter Homes’ policy, announced by David Cameron in the run-up to the 2015 general election, was due to give first-time buyers a 20% discount on new builds on previously-snubbed land.

Yet, despite a subsequent pledge to build the promised 200,000 homes later that year, ministers have admitted that building has yet to begin.

Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey said the failure to get the programme rolling three years on was “a betrayal of young Brits looking for help to buy a first home.”

He added: “There are now a million fewer home-owners under 45 than in 2010 but the Tories are doing too little to give working people on ordinary incomes a hand up. Ministers should get a grip.”

The then-Housing Minister Gavin Barwell said in 2015 that partnership agreements had been made with 30 local authorities, showing a “strong local interest to build thousands of starter homes on hundreds of brownfield sites in the coming years”.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, said: “We have spent £250m buying land to build affordable properties, and work is underway getting them ready for development.



“It is important we get starter homes right and we aim to introduce regulations on them alongside our new planning policy before building gets underway.”