Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to discuss with Peterborough City Council and other stakeholders, including Homes England, the development of legacy allocated land for residential development at Great Kyne (Castor and Ailsworth) in Peterborough to meet the housing delivery targets in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and the East of England.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Homes England is promoting land north east of Castor and Ailsworth in the emerging Peterborough Local Plan Review, with the ambition to create a modern, sustainable community with high-quality homes, jobs, and facilities. The Local Plan Review is at an early stage and Homes England will be responding to consultations in line with the Council’s Local Development Scheme and engaging with all stakeholders throughout the process.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Penn on 23 November 2023 (HL173), what mechanisms are available to members of the House of Lords to encourage, via an arm’s length publicly funded body, development of land which has been historically identified and allocated for such a purpose, such as that at Great Kyne in Peterborough.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government sets clear delivery expectations in regards to developing land for housing. The role of an arm’s length body is to deliver against the government’s policy objectives, which it does via a range of agreed interventions. Arm’s length bodies are fully delegated to deliver these interventions on behalf of the government and work with a large number of delivery partners to bring a wide range of sites and projects forwards for housing. The site at Great Kyne was originally put forward for development in 2016 but was not allocated in the Local Plan by Peterborough City Council. The site was again put forward for consideration as part of the development allocation for future housing need in September 2023. The decision on whether the site will be allocated in the Local Plan rests with Peterborough City Council.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent discussions they have had with Homes England on developing legacy allocated land for residential development at Great Kyne (Castor and Ailsworth) in Peterborough to meet the housing delivery targets in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and the East of England.
Answered by Baroness Penn
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the delivery of critical infrastructure in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to support the plans for 250,000 new homes in these areas under the auspices of the Cambridge 2040 project.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Any new policies or announcements will be made in the usual way. We are determined to help more young families own a home of their own and reaching our target of 1 million new homes this Parliament will require a comprehensive approach. We know that development is only welcomed when new homes are beautiful and built alongside new GP surgeries, schools and transport links - to create neighbourhoods that are supported by the right services and infrastructure.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking, if any, to encourage local planning authorities to expedite determination of planning applications for renewable energy projects seeking to connect to local Distribution Network Operators.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that when determining planning applications for renewable energy projects, local planning authorities should approve the application if its impacts are (or can be made) acceptable. As part of our proposed changes to the planning system, and as committed to in the Net Zero Strategy, we intend to do a fuller review of national planning policy. Our NPPF also encourages pre-application engagement between all parties.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage local planning authorities to expedite determination of planning applications for renewable energy projects seeking to connect to local Distribution Network Operators.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Our National Planning Policy Framework is clear that when determining planning applications for renewable and low carbon development, local planning authorities should approve the application if its impacts are (or can be made) acceptable.
In addition, powers in our Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill will enable us to create a more consistent, streamlined and digitally enabled approach to planning applications. When utilised with existing powers, this will enable us to create an end to end system which is faster and more accessible to communities.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures are in place to ensure that commuted funds in respect of planning obligations set aside under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 are spent in (1) an appropriate, and (2) timely, manner and represent value for money.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Section 106 obligations are negotiated between developers and local planning authorities, and can include obligations requiring developers to pay financial contributions. Where they are used to support the grant of planning permission, section 106 obligations must comply with regulation 122 of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Regulations 2010 (as amended), which states that the obligations must be necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms, must be directly related to the development, and must be fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.
Section 106 agreements should normally include clauses stating how commuted funds will be used, and clauses that allow for their return, after an agreed period of time, where they are not used. Local authorities that receive contributions must publish Infrastructure Funding Statements annually, which set out what has been received and spent through developer contributions, providing transparency for communities.
Under the new infrastructure levy proposed in the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill, levels of negotiation in the system will be reduced, while retaining a constrained role for section 106 agreements. Local authorities will be required to produce infrastructure delivery strategies to illustrate how they intend to spend Levy proceeds in a timely and effective manner, such that new development is accompanied by the infrastructure that local communities need - like roads, schools, and GP surgeries.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the benefits of amending section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 to vary notice periods in line with length of tenancy as an alternative to repeal.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Ensuring a fair deal for renters remains a priority for this Government, and we will legislate in this Parliament to abolish Section 21 'no fault' evictions'.
Under our new reforms, we will take a proportionate approach to the period of notice that a landlord must give when using grounds for possession. Tenants must be given sufficient time to find appropriate alternative housing when their landlord requires possession of a property. These changes will sit alongside comprehensive, fair and efficient grounds to ensure landlords have confidence they can regain possession to their properties when it is reasonable.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the repeal of section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 on the future supply of private rented accommodation.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The English Housing Survey provides information on households and housing stock. The proportion of Private Rented Sector households has remained relatively stable for nearly a decade; the PRS was 19% of households in 2013-14 and continues to be at 19% according to the latest data for 2021-22. The repeal of Section 21 which is a manifesto commitment will give security of tenure to millions of tenants, empowering them to challenge poor practice and unfair rent increases. We will bring forward legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to introduce the Renters’ Reform Bill.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The English Housing Survey provides information on households and housing stock. The proportion of Private Rented Sector households has remained relatively stable for nearly a decade; the PRS was 19% of households in 2013-14 and continues to be at 19% according to the latest data for 2021-22. The repeal of Section 21 which is a manifesto commitment will give security of tenure to millions of tenants, empowering them to challenge poor practice and unfair rent increases. We will bring forward legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows.