Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Heidi Alexander

Main Page: Heidi Alexander (Labour - Swindon South)

Oral Answers to Questions

Heidi Alexander Excerpts
Monday 17th September 2012

(12 years, 1 month ago)

Commons Chamber
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Heidi Alexander Portrait Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)
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T9. The Government recently announced that they would allow developers effectively to plead poverty in their section 106 agreements in order to get out of building affordable homes. Can the Secretary of State tell me how many affordable homes will not be built as a result of those changes, bearing in mind that the National Housing Federation estimates that 35,000 new affordable homes are built through the process each year?

Lord Foster of Bath Portrait The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Don Foster)
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As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has pointed out, if we do not take these steps many of the developments will not take place. Nevertheless, if we go ahead with the schemes, as we hope to do, we estimate that around 10,000 affordable homes might be lost through section 106 agreements, which is why we have put in place a funding scheme that will provide more than 15,000 additional properties and bring a further 5,000 empty properties back into use. We will get double what was going to be lost.