Government picks 30 councils to develop the first discounted homes

The first starter homes will be built this year after the government picked 30 partner councils to develop the first discounted homes.

Councils signing up to deliver the first starter homes include Bristol, Blackbool, Greater Manchester, Lincoln and Liverpool (full list below).

Housing minister Gavin Barwell said the homes would be sold exclusively to first time buyers between 23 and 40 years of age, at a discount of at least 20% below market value.

Brownfield sites are being prioritised for starter homes, with funding made available via the government’s £1.2bn Starter Homes Land Fund.

Housing minister Gavin Barwell said: “This first wave of partnerships shows the strong local interest to build thousands of Starter Homes on hundreds of brownfield sites in the coming years.”

The news comes hot on the heels of a government announcement yesterday of the development of 14 new garden villages and 3 further garden towns (full list below), with the potential to deliver more than 48,000 homes.

The garden villages are an expansion of the existing garden towns programme, for smaller projects of between 1,500 and 10,000 homes.

The 14 new garden villages - from Devon to Derbyshire, Cornwall to Cumbria - will have access to a £6m fund over the next two financial years to support the delivery of these projects.

More details on both initiatives are expected later this month when the government publishes its housing white paper.

The 30 Starter Home Land Fund partnerships

  • Blackburn with Darwen Council
  • Blackpool Council
  • Bristol City Council
  • Central Bedfordshire Council
  • Cheshire West and Chester Council
  • Chesterfield Borough Council
  • Chichester District Council
  • City of Lincoln
  • Ebbsfleet Development Corporation
  • Fareham Borough Council
  • Gloucester City Council
  • Greater Manchester Combined Authority (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan)
  • Lincolnshire County Council
  • Liverpool City Council (in association with Sefton, Knowsley, Halton, Wirral, St Helens)
  • Luton Borough Council
  • Mid Sussex District Council
  • Middlesbrough Council
  • North Somerset Council
  • Northumberland County Council
  • Pendle Borough Council
  • Plymouth City Council
  • Rotherham Metropolitan Council
  • Rushmoor Borough Council
  • Sheffield City Council
  • South Kestevan District Council
  • South Ribble Borough Council (in association with Preston City Council and Lancashire County Council)
  • South Somerset District Council
  • Stoke-on-Trent City Council
  • West Somerset Council (in association with Taunton Deane Borough Council, Sedgemoor District Council)
  • Worthing Council

New garden villages and towns

Garden villages:

  • Long Marston in Stratford-on-Avon
  • Oxfordshire Cotswold in West Oxfordshire
  • Deenethorpe in East Northants
  • Culm in Mid Devon
  • Welborne near Fareham in Hampshire
  • West Carclaze in Cornwall
  • Dunton Hills near Brentwood, Essex
  • Spitalgate Heath in South Kesteven, Lincolnshire
  • Halsnead in Knowsley, Merseyside
  • Longcross in Runnymede and Surrey Heath
  • Bailrigg in Lancaster
  • Infinity Garden Village in South Derbyshire and Derby City area
  • St Cuthberts near Carlisle City, Cumbria
  • North Cheshire in Cheshire East

Garden towns:

  • Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
  • Taunton, Somerset
  • Harlow & Gilston, Essex and Hertfordshire

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