黑洞社区

David Cameron鈥檚 flagship starter homes housing policy has been branded as 鈥極rwellian鈥� by his former head of the civil service.

Under the plans, which were a centrepiece of the prime minister鈥檚 speech at last week鈥檚 Conservative Party conference, developers will be able to meet their affordable housing requirements by selling cut-price homes instead of supplying rented affordable properties.

Lord Kerslake, who retired from the civil service in January, criticised the policy when he spoke at a Housing Forum event on Friday.  

He said: 鈥淪tarter homes started out on sites that could not be unlocked. We are now moving to a very different model of affordable housing which is Orwellian in its redefinition of the word.

鈥淲ith the best will in the world, there may be more access to home ownership for particular income groups but they are not in any sense affordable.鈥�  

Kerslake, who is chairing the London Housing Commission for the IPPR think tank, also told the event that he had a 鈥渘umber of significant issues鈥� with what he described as the government鈥檚 decision to prioritise expanding home ownership over increasing supply.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there is a short-term route to increase home ownership, it鈥檚 about increasing supply,鈥� said the peer, warning that the government鈥檚 strong pro-home ownership stance risked 鈥渄estabilising鈥� broader efforts to increase supply.

Kerslake, who is also chair of the Peabody Trust, has previously criticised the government鈥檚 push to extend the right to buy to housing association tenants.

He also questioned whether the redevelopment of London鈥檚 council estates could deliver a dramatic increase in housing supply.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a beguiling vision but timelines to do that are very long,鈥� he said.

Tory London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith backed a drive to regenerate the capital鈥檚 housing estates in his keynote speech at the party鈥檚 conference.  

In addition, Kerslake repeatedly urged the government to relax its existing controls on the planning fees that cash-strapped council planning departments can charge.

鈥淕iving flexibility on fees would enable them to retain capacity and skills,鈥� he said, adding that the quid pro quo would be a more responsive approach from local authority planning departments.  

But he said increased supply need not result in watered-down quality.

The event was held to help shape the forum鈥檚 response to the London Housing Commission.