Last week peers in the House of Lords forced an important change to the Housing and Planning Bill.  In a vote at the first sitting of the “report” stage of the Bill on 11th April, the Government’s intention to impose “starter homes” targets on every local authority was defeated.  Instead, peers have won local authorities the power to determine the number of "starter homes" to be developed in their areas based on local need. 

Aspire believes this is significant because, where authorities have established targets for wheelchair accessible homes in local plans, these would have been severely threatened by centrally imposed requirements for new “starter homes".  However, with the power to determine starter homes numbers locally, councils will still be able to produce development plans that also aim to meet the housing needs of local disabled people.

Click here to read more about the Housing and Planning Bill

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