Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to promote the benefits of brownfield registers to local authorities, developers, and communities.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Local planning authorities are required to publish a statutory brownfield land register identifying which previously developed sites are suitable for housing by the end of 2017.
My officials have been supporting the implementation of brownfield registers and permission in principle through an active programme of engagement since early summer. We are also identifying authorities to work with whose positive or innovative approach can be used to promote good practice. Further assistance will be provided in 2018 to help promote permission in principle on suitable sites on registers.
Small sites, including sites on brownfield land, have a crucial role to play in increasing housing supply and speeding up delivery. That is why we announced in the Autumn Budget our proposal to expect authorities to bring forward 20 per cent of their housing supply as small sites. This will speed up the building of new homes and support the Government’s wider ambition to increase competition in the house building market. Brownfield registers can contribute to this alongside other measures as authorities have the discretion to include smaller sites in their registers and grant permission in principle on those sites if they wish.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to support the development of small brownfield sites.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
Local planning authorities are required to publish a statutory brownfield land register identifying which previously developed sites are suitable for housing by the end of 2017.
My officials have been supporting the implementation of brownfield registers and permission in principle through an active programme of engagement since early summer. We are also identifying authorities to work with whose positive or innovative approach can be used to promote good practice. Further assistance will be provided in 2018 to help promote permission in principle on suitable sites on registers.
Small sites, including sites on brownfield land, have a crucial role to play in increasing housing supply and speeding up delivery. That is why we announced in the Autumn Budget our proposal to expect authorities to bring forward 20 per cent of their housing supply as small sites. This will speed up the building of new homes and support the Government’s wider ambition to increase competition in the house building market. Brownfield registers can contribute to this alongside other measures as authorities have the discretion to include smaller sites in their registers and grant permission in principle on those sites if they wish.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to evaluate the effectiveness of the access programme announced in the Budget 2017 to help homeless people to rent accommodation.
Answered by Marcus Jones - Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Commons)
The £20 million fund to help homeless people access private rented sector accommodation forms an important part of our work to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. We will share further details of the scheme in due course.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he plans to take to ensure the adequacy of provision of affordable homes to rent to help house London's homeless population.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government has committed to investing £8 billion to deliver over 400,000 affordable housing starts across the country.
Also we are providing £110 million to tackle rough sleeping and homelessness. This will deliver at least 2,000 accommodation places and will support projects helping to get people off the streets.
We have invested more than £500 million since 2010 to help local authorities prevent almost one million households from becoming homeless.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to encourage the development of small sites by small builders; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential effect of deferring payment of the community infrastructure levy for sites of less than 50 units until those properties are placed on the market on the development of such sites.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Increasing the number of homes is a top priority for this Government and helping smaller builders to contribute is key. Self builders are exempt from the Community Infrastructure Levy and charging authorities may offer relief from the levy in exceptional circumstances where a specific scheme cannot afford to pay it.
We brought forward policy to exempt sites of less than 10 units from making affordable housing and tariff style contributions through section 106 planning obligations, which was subsequently quashed by the courts. We have appealed this decision and we are awaiting the judgment from the Court of Appeal.
The Government is currently undertaking a review of the Community Infrastructure Levy, through an independent panel, to assess the extent to which the levy provides an effective mechanism for funding infrastructure, and to recommend changes that would improve its operation in support of the Government’s wider housing and growth objectives. The review, amongst other issues, will be looking at the relationship between the levy and section 106, including how they work together in practice.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of proposed changes to the National Planning Framework for London on the (a) availability and (b) affordability of housing in London.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework reaffirm this Government’s commitment to increasing the supply of housing in sustainable locations. Consultation on our proposed changes closed on 22 February and we are currently analysing the responses.
We have doubled the housing budget to help deliver our ambition of one million new homes and are committed to spending £8 billion to deliver over 400,000 affordable housing starts by 2021. Negotiations over the financial settlement to deliver affordable housing within London are continuing.
Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of encouraging increased residential density around business and transport hubs to reduce community demand on public and private transport.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
There are some specific circumstances where there are clear opportunities for having higher density housing development while creating high quality, safe and attractive places to live.
Last December we consulted on changes to national planning policy to encourage higher densities around commuter hubs, and will publish our response to this consultation in due course.