Oral Answers to Questions

Ben Bradshaw Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Clarke]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We need to communicate clearly with the public about all the support and options that are available. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor is coming to the House later this afternoon precisely to give the kind of calm, clear messaging that we want so that we can reassure investors and the markets that there is a clear way forward on this vital question so that we can get interest rates as low as possible

[Mr Ben Bradshaw (Exeter) (Lab)]

One of the things that has helped my local authority to become the best in the south-west in providing affordable housing to buy and to rent is the power to require private developers to provide a proportion of housing that is affordable. Will the Secretary of State reassure me that worrying reports that the Government are considering raising the threshold for that requirement are not true?

[Mr Clarke]

We are looking at all the options that are open to us to try to accelerate house building across the country. We want to make sure that the right incentives are in place for developers to build—[Interruption.] If the hon. Member for Luton North (Sarah Owen) will let me answer the question, rather than shout at me. The reality is that we want to look at all those options. We have consulted on that particular option before, and we have decided not to do it. It is an issue that we keep under review, but the reasons that applied in our decision not to proceed then are very powerful.