Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
I am very grateful to the Minister for taking an intervention and for the time she gave me last week to discuss this matter. Can she clarify whether it is now the Government’s intention to make short-term lets a separate category of planning use following the consultation? If so, when would that come in? Will she also ensure that planning departments have the resources to enforce that?
Lucy Frazer
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for speaking on this issue and indeed other issues on this topic. We are committing to consulting on the issue. We propose to consult early in the new year. Following that consultation, we hope to bring in some legislation, if that is the result of the consultation. There is a very tight timetable both for that and the registration scheme, and the registration scheme will be coming through in autumn.
[Official Report, 13 December 2022, Vol. 724, c. 960.]
Letter of correction from the Minister of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the right hon. and learned Member for South East Cambridgeshire (Lucy Frazer):
An error has been identified in the response given to the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) on Report stage of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill.
The correct response should have been:
Lucy Frazer
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for speaking on this issue and indeed other issues on this topic. We are committing to consulting on the issue. We propose to consult early in the new year. Following that consultation, we hope to bring in some legislation, if that is the result of the consultation. There is a very tight timetable for both that and the registration scheme, and we intend to lay the legislation for the planning use class change in autumn 2023, subject to the outcome of the consultation.