On the government amendment regarding the minimum age of 23, I take the points made by my two noble friends. The under-23s are of course aspirants too, and in certain parts of the country this policy might really help them. But as the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, says, we have to draw the line somewhere and, given that 96% of 23 to 40 year-olds will benefit, that is where we have chosen to draw it.
I thank my noble friend Lord Lansley for his Amendment 4. As noble Lords will know, we are committed to delivering the 135,000 shared-ownership and 10,000 rent-to-buy products. Each has its place, and these products can and do complement each other. They can be considered by councils as part of their wider affordable-housing requirements for their area, and the starter homes clauses will not prevent these developments coming forward. We will be touching on this later on Report.
However, trying to blend them would create complexity and lose the distinctive characteristics of each, and it could put at risk our starter homes manifesto commitment. For example, if a young person entered a right-to-buy arrangement, at what point in their occupation of the property would they be committed to purchase? After how many years of occupation would they be entitled to sell at an increased market value? That could be difficult to justify when we need to deliver as many new homes as possible.
Still, we recognise that there may be different routes to purchase, and over time there may be different opportunities to consider how these will fit within the overall starter home model. Much of the detail on the model will sit in secondary legislation, and the definition of purchase in the Bill is broad enough to allow different purchase mechanisms to be used. As the starter home model rolls out, we will keep it under review.
I also thank the noble Lords, Lord Best and Lord Beecham, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Andrews—who is not in her place—and Lady Bakewell, for Amendment 10. Our consultation on the starter homes regulations sets out potential flexibility on the on-site starter homes requirement. We recognise that some developments, including age-restricted schemes, do not easily lend themselves to an on-site provision, and we do not want to render those schemes unviable or undeliverable.
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The consultation proposes that the requirement should not apply to dedicated supported housing which provides specialist accommodation for a particular group and which includes an element of support, such as residential care for older people. A starter homes requirement could have an adverse impact on the viability of such developments and we propose that they are exempted. Furthermore, we propose that housing designed specifically with older people in mind, but with no additional support provided, will be subject to an off-site contribution to starter homes. An on-site contribution would not be compatible with the function and design of this form of housing. I believe it is right and proper to wait for the outcome of that consultation on the important issue of older people’s housing, rather than rush into making changes now, and I think that that is what the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, was driving at.
Finally, I hope that the Government’s amendment to impose a minimum age of 23 provides reassurance that starter homes will provide homes to live in, rather than investment opportunities. I have listened carefully to the debate, and I hope that the steps I have set out make noble Lords feel that they do not have to divide the House. It is only right that we work with the sector to agree an approach that supports home ownership and operates fairly. Rather than rush to a legislative provision now, we need to listen and respond before bringing affirmative regulations back to this House. With that, I ask noble Lords not to press their amendments.