Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assistance the Government is providing for housing associations in building more affordable homes for first-time buyers.

The Government is committed to helping hard working families meet their aspirations to own their own homes and it is a priority to increase the provision of affordable housing available to first time buyers.
We have exceeded expectations over the last five years in delivering affordable homes, with more than 260,000 delivered since April 2010.

We are committed to deliver a further 275,000 new affordable homes by 2020. This is well under way with over £1bn of the 2015-18 affordable homes programme already allocated to deliver new affordable homes across the country.

Shared ownership is an integral part of this programme and helps those who may be otherwise priced out of the market to get a foot on the property ladder. Between April 2010 and March 2015 we delivered 41,000 new shared ownership homes.

Through shared ownership and the Government’s commitment to build 200,000 Starter Homes by 2020, we are on track to help thousands of families achieve the dream of home ownership for the first time.