I thank the Minister. Surely it must be sensible to protect the 20% discount in perpetuity, as the amendment suggests, or to use a tapering mechanism; or else to exclude starter homes from rural exception sites. They should also be kept for first-time buyers after the five years.
We have heard various statistics, particularly from Shelter. One published piece of research shows that in order to buy in the countryside, an applicant would need a salary of at least £50,000, with a deposit of £40,000. Those figures are after tax, which is a point that has not been made very much; so they are very high and would probably have to apply to two people in the household. Self-evidently, that is not widely affordable.
The old Section 106 affordable home requirement would be made largely redundant. Perhaps that would mean higher profits for developers, because they would not need to provide a percentage of affordable housing. In the past, that has often been 30% to 50% of the total. This is also going to mean less
rental accommodation. Will the council tax banding be based on the open market value, or on the discounted value?
It is important to point out that prospective owners must consider the extra cost of the maintenance of their new houses. That is often included in the rent, and can amount to a large sum. I also want to take the opportunity to suggest that in the past so many new houses have been built to an abysmal standard of appearance and greening. Perhaps this Bill allows a chance for planners to have more say over that. Low-cost and efficiency are not mutually exclusive.
Rural villages need organic, holistic and good-quality growth. Vital assets of infrastructure—transport and medical—pubs and shops all need to be planned together, as I proposed in my Second Reading speech. I may be anticipating a slightly later grouping, but that issue is important.
Let me return to where I started. The main problem is the contention that government funding, especially in rural areas, should be spread equitably between shared ownership, starter homes and renting—that is, mixed tenures. That is why in perpetuity is such an important concept. I support both these amendments.