Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how the grey belt will be designated; and whether she plans Ministerial involvement in such designation.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to preserving the greenbelt which has served England’s towns and cities well over many decades.
We intend to move away from a system that allows greenbelt land to regularly be released for development in a haphazard manner and often for speculative development that does not meet housing need.
Without changing its purpose or general extent, Labour will take a more strategic approach to greenbelt land designation and release to build more homes in the right places.
The release of lower quality grey belt land will be prioritised, and we will introduce ‘golden rules’ to ensure development benefits communities and nature.
Further details on how grey belt land will be designated and the methods by which it might be released will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to reform nutrient neutrality rules to meet her Department’s housing targets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to finding a solution that unlocks the building of homes affected by nutrient neutrality without weakening environmental protections.
We will work with nature organisations, other stakeholders, and the sector to determine the best way forward and have already had initial conversations to that end.
We will only act in legislation where we can confirm to Parliament that the steps we are taking will deliver positive environmental outcomes.
If legislation is required for the purposes of enabling development to fund nature recovery where currently both are stalled, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will provide the necessary legislative underpinning to unlock that win-win outcome for the economy and for nature.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department will set affordable housing targets.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government will reverse the damaging changes to national planning policy introduced in December 2023 and consult on other changes to the National Planning Policy Framework to boost the supply of housing of all tenures, including affordable homes, and support sustainable economic growth. Further details will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has discussed the Laindon Centre with Basildon Council.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Officials at Homes England, the Government’s housing and regeneration agency, are in dialogue with Basildon Council to discuss where their programmes, capacity and funding may be able to support the Council’s priorities.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the funding required to meet levels of demand for affordable housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
We are reviewing the Affordable Homes Programme inherited from the last Government, and will make further announcements in due course.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make it her policy to reduce housing targets for local planning authorities in the metropolitan greenbelt where nationally-imposed transport infrastructure is designated and built on land which could otherwise have been used to deliver housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Housing targets are an important tool to ensure housing is delivered in the right places – this is critical in tackling the chronic shortage that the country is facing that means owning a home is a distant reality for much of the public.
We cannot local a generation out of homeownership, we must build the homes the next generation needs.
As set out in the manifesto, the Government will restore mandatory housing targets. We will reverse the damaging changes introduced in December 2023 that undermine our growth ambitions and commitment to delivering 1.5 million homes. We will set out more detail in the forthcoming National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) update.
We will take a brownfield first approach, prioritising the development of previously used land wherever possible and fast-tracking approval of urban brownfield sites.
Brownfield alone will never be enough to build the homes we need– which is why we will look to lower quality ‘grey belt’ land where necessary to meet local housing needs.
By enabling democratic engagement with how, not if, homes and infrastructure are built – the major brakes on the planning system will be addressed to support sustainable growth.
We are working at pace on various revisions to the NPPF, with a view to public consultation on a new draft Framework in due course.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department plans to take to assess the adequacy of (a) roads, (b) other physical infrastructure, (c) GP services, (d) schools and (e) other service infrastructure in the reform of planning restrictions.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
As set out in the National Planning Policy Framework, the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including the provision of supporting infrastructure in a sustainable manner.
Local planning authorities are required to plan for infrastructure delivery as part of plan-making and report on their use of developer contributions in Infrastructure Funding Statements.
The Government will keep the provision of local infrastructure under review, including when considering revisions to national planning policy.
Asked by: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat - St Ives)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the use of (a) rural exceptions planning policies and permissions and (b) S106 agreements on the successful delivery of (i) secure and (ii) affordable homes which meet a registered or demonstrable need.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Our manifesto committed to increasing the supply of affordable, including social rented, housing. It is up to local planning authorities to identify and evidence their affordable housing need at the plan-making stage. The Government publishes affordable housing statistics annually. In 2022/23, 30,048 affordable homes (completions) were delivered in England through section 106 (nil grant) agreements, which is 47% of the total affordable homes delivered, compared to 44% in the previous year.
Local authorities that receive developer contributions are required to publish Infrastructure Funding Statements annually. These report on what the authority has received and spent through developer contributions, including section 106 agreements. This provides transparency for communities and allows for scrutiny on how councils have chosen to spend funding.
The National Planning Policy Framework states that planning policies and decisions should be responsive to local circumstances in rural areas. This includes supporting housing developments that reflect local needs and going further with opportunities to bring forward small sites for affordable housing in rural areas, such as through rural exception sites. These sites should help meet the local housing needs of rural communities, enabling local people, those with a family connection or those with an employment connection, to live locally and help sustain thriving places.
We are working at pace on various revisions to the NPPF and will launch a public consultation on a new draft Framework, including those aspects that relate to rural housing.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has plans to reform local government finance to ensure funding allocations take greater account of local need.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Future local authority funding decisions will be a matter for the next Spending Review and Local Government Finance Settlement in which we are engaged. The department will work with local government leaders to ensure they are better able to fulfil their statutory duties.
We want to hear from councils about the financial challenges they are facing and we are committed to stabilising the local government finance landscape in this Parliament.
Asked by: Kemi Badenoch (Conservative - North West Essex)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of her time she plans to allocate to her responsibilities relating to (a) housing, (b) communities, (c) local government, (d) deputy Prime Minister, (e) the future of work and (f) government coordination.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State, alongside the Department's ministerial team and colleagues across Government, are working full time to deliver the housing our country needs, renew our local communities and public services, and deliver the New Deal for Working People among other ministerial responsibilities.