Oral Answers to Questions

Louise Haigh Excerpts
Monday 14th December 2015

(8 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Louise Haigh Portrait Louise Haigh (Sheffield, Heeley) (Lab)
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4. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of Government investment in affordable housing.

Robin Walker Portrait Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)
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13. What recent progress his Department has made on increasing the provision of affordable housing.

Brandon Lewis Portrait The Minister for Housing and Planning (Brandon Lewis)
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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 Portrait Louise Haigh
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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 Portrait Brandon Lewis
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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.