Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support local councils in achieving their target for 1.5 million new homes.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government is committed to delivering 1.5 million homes over this parliament, and we have already taken decisive action to support councils to play their part in delivering a generational increase in social and affordable housing.
On 30 July, we confirmed a range of new flexibilities for councils and housing associations, both within the Affordable Homes Programme and in relation to how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts, and a further £450 million for councils through the Local Authority Housing Fund enabling councils to grow their housing stock.
At the Budget on 30 October, the Chancellor set out details of an immediate one-year cash injection of £500 million to top up the existing Affordable Homes Programme which will deliver up to 5,000 new social and affordable homes, with bidding open to councils and other social landlords. This comes ahead of the multi-year Spending Review next spring, where the Government will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme.
The Chancellor also confirmed that we will reduce Right to Buy discounts to their pre-2012 regional levels and allow councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales to better protect council stock and accelerate the replacement of those homes sold. The government is consulting on wider reforms to the Right to Buy and also on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement to provide councils and all providers with the certainty they need to invest in new social housing.
We consulted on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system from 30 July until 24 September 2024. We have now reviewed the available evidence and feedback from the consultation and published our formal response. This response outlines a number of changes in planning policy designed to support the delivery of affordable homes, including more for Social Rent, and implementing golden rules to ensure development in the Green Belt is in the public interest.
We will work in partnership with councils and providers to build capacity and ensure we build the homes people need.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce barriers to building more houses in relation to environmental regulations.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The current systems of environmental assessment have become increasingly complicated, inaccessible and are failing to deliver the environmental outcomes we need. We are committed to achieving win-win outcomes for the economy and for nature and are considering how the powers to introduce Environmental Outcomes Reports can drive improvements.
Alongside this, we are working-up proposals to use development to fund nature recovery where currently both are stalled. Our commitment to the environment is unwavering which is why we will only act in legislation where we can confirm to Parliament that the steps we are taking will deliver positive environmental outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - 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 Centre of Cities report Restarting Housebuilding I: Planning Reform and the Private Sector which suggests that they will fall short of their house-building target for 2029 by 388,000.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to delivering 1.5 million homes over this parliament and we are confident the target can be achieved. We know that this is a stretching target, but it is deliverable and essential to solve the housing crisis and boost economic growth. We have already taken action, including on planning reform and investment in affordable housing, and we will publish a long-term housing strategy next year.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the number of rental properties available.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We will build 1.5 million high-quality homes over this Parliament and deliver the biggest increase in affordable housing for a generation.
In addition, at the Budget the Chancellor set out details of an immediate one-year cash injection of £500 million to top up the existing Affordable Homes Programme to deliver up to 5,000 new social and affordable homes.
The Renters’ Rights Bill will also improve the experience of private renting in England, providing greater security and stability for tenants while ensuring that landlords can reclaim their properties when the need to.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to provide financial support to local councils facing bankruptcy.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
On Monday 21st October, Minister McMahon wrote to all MPs to confirm that we will continue to operate a process to support councils in the most difficult positions.
At the Autumn Budget, we announced £1.3 billion of new grant funding in 2025/26 for local government to deliver core services, of which £600 million is for social care and £700 million to support general pressures. Together with local income from council tax and locally-retained business rates, this will provide a real-terms increase in total core spending power of around 3.2%.
Any council that considers its financial position to be unmanageable should talk to MHCLG.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that new housing developments have adequate supporting infrastructure, particularly healthcare services.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
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.
The changes we proposed as part of our recent consultation on the Framework are intended to support the increased provision and modernisation of various types of public infrastructure, ranging from hospitals to criminal justice facilities. The consultation closed on 24 September, and we are considering all representations made, with a view to publishing a final version of the Framework before the end of the year.
Local planning authorities are required to plan for infrastructure delivery as part of planmaking and report on their use of developer contributions in Infrastructure Funding Statements.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase investment in property technology (1) to aid landlords in filling their properties, and (2) to locate land in which new housing developments can start.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
My department is supporting the adoption of innovative Property Technology (PropTech) tools. The latest Round 4 of the department’s PropTech Innovation Fund, launched in February 2024, provided funding to Local Planning Authorities to support projects that demonstrate how digital solutions can be used across land assessment. These include projects to support the identification of new sites for housing and infrastructure, as well as projects supporting wider industry adoption of these PropTech tools.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect renters as availability of rental properties decreases.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The private rented sector has doubled in size since 2002 and is now the second largest housing tenure. 4.6 million households rent privately, which is equivalent to 11 million people and 19% of the housing market – remaining relatively stable at this level since 2013-14.
The Renters’ Rights Bill will give all renters greater security and protections, cracking down on the minority of unscrupulous landlords who exploit, mistreat or discriminate against tenants.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that planning regulation does not hinder the effective implementation of the 5G mobile signal.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In 2022, the government made changes to planning regulations to provide mobile operators with the flexibility to upgrade existing sites in England for 5G delivery, enhance coverage and meet the growing demands for network capacity. The reforms were designed to reduce the time, cost and uncertainty involved in upgrading mobile network infrastructure and to encourage greater use and sharing of existing infrastructure. The UK Government is committed to supporting investment in high-quality, reliable digital connectivity so that communities can benefit from faster economic growth and greater social inclusion. Permitted development rights for telecommunications infrastructure have been developed to ensure planning supports this mission. This government has committed to further reforms to the planning system including making it easier to build digital infrastructure.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of increasing housing costs.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
While the pricing of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders, we recognise that many home owners have been faced with higher mortgage rates in recent years. That is why we are committed to delivering economic stability to grow the economy and keep taxes, inflation and mortgage rates as low as possible.
Higher mortgage rates, along with the general increase in the cost of living have in particular created significant challenges for first-time buyers. In 2023 there were 235,000 first-time buyers, compared to 334,000 in 2021, a fall of nearly 30%. Too many people are now locked out of homeownership. Our aim to build 1.5m homes will help tackle this. We have also committed to introducing a permanent, comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme and to giving first-time buyers the first chance to buy homes.