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Lords battle looms over Starter Homes
The government is facing a battle to push its controversial Starter Homes proposals through the House of Lords, with peers from across the political spectrum hoping to water down the policy.
Influential Lords are currently meeting with key stakeholders as they develop amendments to the Housing and Planning Bill, which is likely to come before the upper chamber in late January. An early consensus is understood to have emerged around removing the “duty to promote” clause, which would place a legal requirement on councils to guarantee the delivery of Starter Homes over other types of housing.
The Liberal Democrats plan to whip their 102 peers to support any eventual amendment. The party’s spokesperson for housing, peer Baroness Cathy Bakewell, said: “Councils should not be forced to give preferential treatment to Starter Homes over other forms of tenure.”
Labour is understood to still be developing its planned amendments, with a source saying there is “an embarrassment of riches” to target. However, the Starter Homes proposals are likely to be among these targets, with the party hoping to return amended legislation to the Commons rather than strike the bill down entirely.
Should Labour, the Liberal Democrats and crossbench peers unite, they would be able to defeat the government on any amendments.
Losing the duty to promote would make it difficult for the government to meet its manifesto pledge to build 200,000 Starter Homes by 2020 - which will be sold to first time buyers at a 20% discount.
One influential crossbench Lord told Inside Housing peers were currently meeting with the Local Government Association and the National Housing Federation to “line up a number of amendments”.
He added that amending Starter Homes proposals “would certainly be a big one”.
A second crossbench peer confirmed the “duty to promote” clause would be targeted, with many Lords reluctant to force councils to build Starter Homes against their will.
The Housing and Planning Bill is currently at committee stage in the Commons and is on course to receive Royal Assent by April.
As it needs to come into force before the government can roll out key manifesto pledges such as Starter Homes and the Right to Buy, ministers may choose to accept Lords’ amendments rather than enter a lengthy battle.
