Oral Answers to Questions

Louise Haigh Excerpts

Monday 14th December 2015 Commons Chamber

[Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)]

4. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of Government investment in affordable housing.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

13. What recent progress his Department has made on increasing the provision of affordable housing.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Brandon Lewis)]

We have successfully delivered 270,000 affordable homes since 2010. More specifically, the 2011 to 2015 affordable homes programme delivered 193,000 affordable homes, exceeding expectations by some 23,000.

[Louise Haigh]

It is no surprise that the Minister is so keen to crow about his numbers of affordable homes, but I can assure him that, in Sheffield, £250,000 is not considered affordable. Will he therefore introduce a statutory definition of affordability based on average income, not market rate?

[Brandon Lewis]

I think the hon. Lady is referring to the maximum price for a starter home. If she looks, she will see that the average paid by first-time buyers is dramatically lower, which, along with the 20% discount we are introducing for starter homes linked to Help to Buy, makes buying a home affordable again for more people.