To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they plan to take in respect of their starter homes policy, in the light of the decision in R (on the application of West Berkshire District Council and Reading Borough Council) v. Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2015] EWHC 2222 (Admin) removing affordable housing contribution exemptions from small developments.
Answered on
15 September 2015
As my Rt. Hon Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his report Fixing the Foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation, as part of our manifesto commitment to build 200,000 Starter Homes over this Parliament, we intend to expand the current Starter Homes exception site policy to include more types of underused or unviable brownfield land and strengthen the presumption in favour of development for Starter Home developments.
The Government remains concerned about the burden certain Section 106 contributions place on small scale development and the possible impact on the number of houses being built. We are seeking to appeal the judgment