Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 19 May 2022
Levelling-up Report
"I am particularly interested in the aspirations around housing that are implicit throughout the levelling-up agenda. Given the northern consortium’s recent report on the fact that it is actually the quality of existing homes in the north that is a key factor in poverty and other indicators, what plans do …..."Baroness Thornhill - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 18 Nov 2021
Leaseholders: Costs
"Notwithstanding the Minister’s earlier comments, housing associations and councils too face a challenging situation. Both the LGA and the National Housing Federation have evidenced the double whammy of the financial burden to remedy the fire safety issues for the tenants and, consequently, less money to invest in their existing stock—in …..."Baroness Thornhill - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 15 Nov 2021
Levelling Up White Paper
"Minister, successive Governments have grappled with this one under various names and the consensus is that they have largely failed. Do the Government recognise that the fragmented system of funding and bidding is part of this failure? Recently, the LGA found evidence that £23 billion of public funds aimed at …..."Baroness Thornhill - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 04 Nov 2021
Council Tax: Second Homes
"To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to introduce legislation prohibiting second homes advertised as holiday rentals from avoiding council tax by registering for business rates and thereby qualifying for small business rate relief...."Baroness Thornhill - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 04 Nov 2021
Council Tax: Second Homes
"Minister, this at last is a Cornish/Cumbrian Lib Dem campaign success—I can see the leaflets now. Can he explain why it has taken so long and say when we will get a timetable and conclusions of the 2018 consultation that was never actually published? Does he agree that salt has …..."Baroness Thornhill - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 28 Oct 2021
Land Use Framework
"I thank the noble Baroness for bringing forward this debate. If Thursday afternoon debates were a novel, they would certainly not be a bodice-ripper or an edge-of-the-seat thriller, but more a literary heavyweight: challenging, sometimes difficult to get to grips with, but always an opportunity to learn and to explore …..."Baroness Thornhill - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 18 Oct 2021
Building Safety Defects: Costs
"As has already been stated, social housing providers are having to pick up the bill for all of their properties. These sums are having a significant impact on their budgets and are detrimental to their ability to provide more, and better-quality, social housing going forward. Are the Government monitoring the …..."Baroness Thornhill - View Speech
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 14 Sep 2021
Supported Housing: Funding
"My Lords, there is genuine concern among councils that there is abuse of the exempt accommodation status, which grants housing run by a supported housing provider additional housing benefit. Does the Minister agree that, to do right by the majority of good providers, more must be done to increase the …..."Baroness Thornhill - View Speech
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Written Question
Tuesday 31st August 2021
Asked by:
Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question
to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the status of the housing targets allocated to each council area; whether there is an expectation, as evidenced by the Housing Delivery Test, that they will be (1) met or (2) exceeded; and on what grounds targets could be negotiated downwards.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
A crucial first step in making sure the country has the right amount of homes, is to plan for them. The National Planning Policy Framework expects local authorities to calculate local housing need using the standard method. However, our standard method is only the starting point in the process of planning for new homes. It is not a target. Local authorities will still need to consider the constraints they face locally to assess how many homes can be delivered in their area in setting their own housing targets when preparing their local plans.
The Housing Delivery Test exists to offer greater transparency on housing delivery in an area and encourages local authorities to be realistic about likely rates of delivery from sites in plans. Where delivery falls, policy consequences are applied to ensure more land is brought forward. The latest results show that the majority of those delivering 75% or less of the housing they need had a plan over 5 years old at the time of publication – this underlines the importance of having an up to date plan and proactively supporting development in a plan-led way.
Written Question
Tuesday 31st August 2021
Asked by:
Baroness Thornhill (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question
to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of how many local plans have been approved without providing evidence that they will meet their housing targets.
Answered by Lord Greenhalgh
As part of the plan-making process, local land constraints such as the green belt, sites of special scientific interest and national parks are considered in determining housing targets. All local plans are then subject to an independent examination to determine whether the plan is sound, legally compliant and aligns with national policy. As part of the examination the Inspector will determine whether the plan sets out an appropriate strategy for the area, based on proportionate evidence and whether the strategy is deliverable.