The Government’s plan to build 200,000 new homes for first-time buyers in the UK has resulted in no homes being built, according to an industry watchdog.

In 2014, the Government announced its target to build the “Starter Homes”, which were to be sold at a 20% discount to first-time buyers and aimed at those under 40. Former Prime Minister David Cameron committed to the initiative in the Conservative Party manifesto in 2015. The November 2015 Spending Review subsequently provided £2.3bn to support the delivery of the first tranche of 60,000 Starter Homes.

However, the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed that the initiative amounted to nothing, with not a single new home being built. This comes despite the fact that between 2015-16 and 2017-18, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) spent almost £174m on acquiring and preparing sites originally intended for building starter homes.

“The shortage of affordable housing for first-time buyers across the UK has been a pressing issue for many years now,” Paresh Raja, CEO of Market Financial Solutions, said. “It is disheartening therefore, to see potentially positive interventions – such as the Starter Homes initiative – amount to nothing.”