PARTS of the Government’s Housing and Planning Bill have been described as a “potential catastrophe” for the delivery of affordable homes in rural areas by the leader of East Hampshire District Council.

Ferris Cowper criticised elements of the bill as he gave evidence to MPs at Westminster this month.

He particularly picked out plans allowing developers to renegotiate the tenure of affordable homes as “a dreadful idea”.

The Department for Communities and Local Government Select Committee invited Mr Cowper to give evidence as it examines the viability and sustainability of housing associations.

The inquiry is looking at the proposed extension of Right to Buy and how this and a number of other government measures may impact on the ability of housing associations to build and develop.

Addressing the committee, headed by Labour MP Clive Betts, Mr Cowper said that in his view the plans could possibly lead to no rentable social housing left in the district as developers are choosing more profitable types of tenure, such as shared ownership.

He said: “This has got potential catastrophe written all over it. It is a dreadful idea and I would urge you to give very serious consideration to the consequences I’m outlining to you in a rural area like mine.”

Mr Cowper explained that the average house price in East Hampshire was far out of the reach of many residents in the district and schemes such as 20 per cent discounts on starter homes and shared ownership still do not make homes affordable for those most in need.

He also raised concerns that homes sold through the extension of the Right To Buy scheme will not be replaced in rural areas, saying 86 per cent of homes bought through the scheme over the last three years have not been replaced.

Mr Cowper said he had been working for 16 years as a councillor for affordable homes to be provided in Grayshott, his home village, but the proposals threatened to undermine that work.

“Under the proposals as we currently understand them, if a house is bought under the Right to Buy scheme it will be replaced, but not necessarily in Grayshott, so I can watch all the painstakingly accumulated affordable housing stock in my village built up and under these proposals sold off and replaced in Fareham or Gosport or Eastleigh,” he said.

This is the first time a representative from East Hampshire District Council has been invited to speak to such a committee.

He said: “It was a rare honour to be invited to give evidence at the Department for Communities and Local Government Select Committee and I was delighted to be given the opportunity to speak to MPs about the Housing and Planning Bill.

“Nevertheless, it was vital that I spoke up for East Hampshire because some of the proposed changes, particularly to housing association rents, potentially have very damaging consequences for the delivery of affordable housing in this district.

“Rural areas like ours face unique difficulties when it comes to providing homes that are within reach of many of our residents and some of the policies within the bill threaten to exacerbate these problems.”