Failed starter homes programme cost £173m

The government spent £173m on its starter homes programme, which failed to deliver a single new house, a senior civil servant has revealed.

Speaking in front of the public accounts committee last week, the permanent secretary at Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Jeremy Pocklington confirmed his department had spent that figure on the programme.

In April 2015, the Conservative Party manifesto promised to build 200,000 starter homes, which would be sold at a 20% discount and will be built exclusively for first-time buyers under the age of 40.

The November 2015 Spending Review subsequently provided £2.3bn to support the delivery of 60,000 starter homes, of the 200,000 previously announced.

But a report published last year by the National Audit Office confirmed not a single new home had been built as part of the scheme.

Mr Pocklington told MPs the starter homes programme had been a priority for the Conservative government, which was led by the-then prime minister, David Cameron.

‘Under that government, the policy was pursued at considerable pace and with significant resources put behind it,’ he told MPs.

‘Under prime minister Theresa May’s government, though, a different approach was adopted and it is clear that starter homes were less of a priority.’

Mr Pocklington said at the money was then ‘reprioritised to other areas’.

‘Ministers in that government took a policy decision that they wanted to prioritise a wider range of home ownership products, including shared ownership, Help to Buy and right to buy,’ he told MPs.

‘Starter homes remained as a policy issue, but it was not as much of a priority for that that government.’

Mr Pocklington added that the funding for the programme was ‘in large part’ was returned to the Treasury in 2017.

‘However, at the same event and over the same period, the department received substantial additional funding, which more than outweighed the starter homes funding, for other very important housing programmes, including the housing infrastructure fund, land programmes and additional support for local authorities to borrow more to build housing.

‘While not all the money was spent through this programme, it was returned to the Treasury and, at the same time, we received additional investment to spend on important housing priorities,’ added the civil servant.

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