Government criticised over affordable housing

Increasing property prices prompted the government to launch a scheme to help aspiring first-time buyers onto the property ladder. The government announced the construction of over a thousand properties on State-owned land, at 10 different sites in an effort to quell the problem. However, Crest Nicholson, the firm responsible for building the first project, announced that the property prices had reached £175,000 – nearly three times as much as the original cost.

A spokesperson for Crest Nicholson, said: “This was never a competition to provide cheap housing. It was to improve construction efficiency and design and we are satisfied that Crest Nicholson met that criteria. It was John Prescott who linked the £60,000 price to affordable housing. We never gave that impression.”

Simon Webster, managing director at Facts & Figures Financial Planners Ltd, said: “What is considered affordable depends on the salary you earn and which part of the country you are buying in. Affordable housing has to be subsidised. It costs the same to build affordable homes as it does market-led homes, unless either money is taken out of the developers’ profits, or the government sells land cheaply, which will not please tax payers. Developers already provide affordable housing in exchange for planning permission, but what is wrong with renting?”