Brandon Lewis
Main Page: Brandon Lewis (Conservative - Great Yarmouth)
Joan Ryan (Enfield North) (Lab)
2. What assessment he has made of trends in the level of home ownership since 2010.
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Brandon Lewis)
Annual statistics on trends in home ownership are published in the Department’s English housing survey headline report, and I was pleased that recently it highlighted the fact that the number of first-time buyers is at a seven-year high.
Joan Ryan
Is the Minister aware that the cost of the average house in Enfield has rocketed to over 11 times the average wage in the borough? Home ownership is now at its lowest level in 30 years, and the dream of buying a home is increasingly out of reach. Why are the Government so complacent about declining home ownership and their failure to build?
Brandon Lewis
The hon. Lady should be pleased that we have seen 600 housing starts in her own area over the last year and that, although we inherited from the last Labour Government the lowest level of house building since about 1923, we have seen that level starting to come back thanks to the work this Government have done to deliver the fastest rate of building not just of council homes, but also affordable homes, in about 20 years.
Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)
Can the Minister confirm that the proportion of people who own their own home actually fell over the lifetime of the coalition Government, and will he reaffirm, as a central promise of this Administration, to increase the proportion of people who own their own homes?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend makes an interesting observation. Of course, home ownership started to fall in 2005, under the last Labour Government. Over the last Parliament, we worked to get the house building sector working again. We have made it clear that we are a party who believe in helping people who work hard and aspire to own their own home, and that is why we will deliver some 200,000 starter homes for first-time buyers over the course of this Parliament.
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
24. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show yet another significant rise in house prices in Bristol, with the biggest rise—some 12%—being in my constituency. Affordability is becoming an increasing problem for local people. People from outside Bristol might be able to afford to live there, but local people cannot afford to buy homes. What is the Minister doing about that?
Brandon Lewis
The hon. Lady may realise that there have been just over 1,000 housing starts in the last year in her area, which is well up on where it was before and, again, builds on the terrible situation we inherited some five years ago. I hope she will join me in thanking this Conservative Government for pledging to deliver affordable homes at the fastest rate in over 20 years and, of course, those 200,000 starter homes for first-time buyers at a 20% discount. Perhaps her party would like to get on board and support that work.
Chris Philp (Croydon South) (Con)
Does my hon. Friend agree that the way to address housing affordability is to increase supply? Can he confirm to the House that the approach which saw over 500,000 new homes built during the last Parliament will be continued?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend makes a good point, and we seek to build on that by delivering affordable homes, including starter homes for first-time buyers, and making sure we increase supply. We have seen the increases over the last few years, and the recent figure of some 261,000 homes getting planning approval last year is pretty much a record level, and is a good sign that we have got the market moving in the right direction. We intend to build on that, and will do so.
Mrs Flick Drummond (Portsmouth South) (Con)
3. What steps he is taking to ensure that local councils provide adequate support and assistance to single homeless people when they approach their council for help.
Stuart Andrew (Pudsey) (Con)
14. What steps the Government are taking to release more public sector land for development.
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Brandon Lewis)
Over the course of this Parliament, the Government are committed to releasing public sector land with capacity for up to 150,000 homes. Selling surplus land plays an important role in delivering the Government’s ambitious housing programme, as it releases land supply to the market for starter homes and other initiatives.
Wendy Morton
Given the importance of protecting the green belt in areas such as my constituency of Aldridge-Brownhills, what assistance is being given to local authorities to identify public sector land for development and thus further safeguard our precious green belt?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend makes a good point on protecting the green belt, which we have done through the national planning policy framework. My now boss outlined the process during the passage of the Localism Act 2011. We are committed to ensuring that the Government release public land as an important part of that process, and that 90% of our brownfield land has its planning permission in place by 2020.
Stuart Andrew
My hon. Friend will be acutely aware of the concern of many of my constituents about the potential loss of our green belt thanks to excessive housing targets set by Leeds council, but the release of public sector land would help to save those important sites. What measures are available to meet the remediation costs so that developers cannot say that such sites are not viable?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend makes a good point. It was a pleasure to visit him in his constituency and to talk to residents about these issues. It is important that we get public sector land released. With regard to brownfield sites, we have the housing zones programme in place. We have announced that, later this year, we will go into more detail about the brownfield fund, which will be aimed specifically at such details. I will happily meet him and his local councillors to see whether we can help take things forward.
Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)
There is a significant disparity in the rate of public sector development across the United Kingdom. Will the Minister undertake to hold discussions with the relevant Ministers in each of the devolved Assemblies and Parliaments to ensure that residents in each of the parts of the UK get maximum bang for their buck?
Brandon Lewis
The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. Ministers are talking all the time; the Secretary of State has been very clear about driving the matter forward. He wants all Departments to deliver to ensure that we get to 150,000 homes. I am happy to look at what he suggests. If we can work with the devolved authorities to ensure that residents right across the United Kingdom benefit, I will be happy to do so.
Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)
Figures from a recent National Audit Office report showed that the Government were so desperate to inflate their record on the disposal of public land for new homes that they included land released as long ago as 1997 by the Labour Government. Will the Minister tell the House how on earth the Government propose to reach the higher target of 150,000 homes with no one else’s record to plunder?
Brandon Lewis
I gently say to the hon. Lady that the programme that I outlined in the previous Parliament consisted of land that was built on or disposed of between 2011 and 2015. We have set an ambitious target of 150,000 homes for this Parliament, which we must reach, and I hope that she will support us in doing that. Let me gently point out to her that I am somewhat prouder of this Government’s record of delivering some 23,000 homes a year through public sector land than I would be of the Labour record of 1,000 homes a year.
Mr Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley) (Con)
6. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the provision of free school transport by local authorities.
John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)
18. How many affordable homes have been built since 2010.
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Brandon Lewis)
More than 260,000 affordable homes have been delivered in England since April 2010. The Government’s 2011 to 2015 affordable homes programme exceeded our expectations, delivering nearly 186,000 affordable homes, some 16,000 more than originally pledged.
David Mackintosh
Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating Northampton Borough Council on using the affordable housing programme to create new affordable housing and bring empty commercial and office buildings in Northampton back into use? What further plans does he have to help local authorities provide more affordable housing?
Brandon Lewis
I thank my hon. Friend for making that point, and he is right. I congratulate Northampton Borough Council on its excellent work in making sure it delivers the homes that residents need. It is important that we do that. That is why we are committed to delivering affordable housing over the next few years at the fastest rate we will have seen in this country for more than two decades.
John Glen
I welcome the Minister’s answer and applaud the Government’s policy of extending the right to buy to housing association tenants, but may I urge him to make sure that there is a robust mechanism to ensure like-for-like replacement of homes sold to housing association tenants? In particular, will he examine what happens in rural areas where community land trusts exist to ensure no depletion of affordable housing in rural communities?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend makes a good point, and I thank him for endorsing the fact that we are determined to do what we can to support people who aspire to own their own homes. We will move forward with delivering that right to all social tenants. The Government are committed to ensuring that people can achieve their aspiration of home ownership. We support people’s desire to own their own home, and we will work with them. Under the current programme, there are rural exemption sites.
Mr Clive Betts (Sheffield South East) (Lab)
Given that the Government have completely failed to replace the council homes sold under the right to buy, and given the Minister’s proposals to force the sale of housing association homes, are the Government committed to replacing housing association homes that are sold and council homes that will be sold to fund the compensation to housing associations? If not, does he accept that his policy will lead to a reduction in the number of houses available for social renting?
Valerie Vaz (Walsall South) (Lab)
What assessment has the Minister made of land throughout the country that already has planning permission for housing that could help the affordable housing programme?
Brandon Lewis
Some 261,000 properties have been given planning permission in the past year. That is a good sign, and it is pretty much a record figure. We need to make sure that those homes are developed in good time. Local authorities grant planning permission for a limited time, so they should rightly expect developers to build them out.
Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)
10. What the replacement rate of council homes sold through the right-to-buy scheme has been since 2012.
Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)
11. What steps his Department is taking to ensure that localism is prioritised in the decision-making process for nationally significant infrastructure projects.
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Brandon Lewis)
The nationally significant infrastructure planning system strikes a fair and effective balance between two important needs: the national need for infrastructure to underpin growth and sustainability, and the need to address community concerns and maximise local benefits from investment.
Rosie Cooper
I thank the Minister for that non-answer. I would like him to explain to the residents of West Lancashire why, despite the Government’s claim to support localism in the planning process, permission was granted to dump hazardous waste for 20 more years at Whitemoss landfill, for which there was no demonstrable need, either local or regional, and which was opposed by thousands of local residents, the borough council, the county council and me as the local MP. Surely this means—
Mr Speaker
Order. The hon. Lady can preserve the unexpurgated version of her question for the autumn evenings that lie ahead.
Brandon Lewis
Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank the hon. Lady for her gracious comments. As she probably realises, that planning application is still within the six-week period during which a decision can be challenged. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on a specific scheme, owing to the quasi-judicial nature of planning.
Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)
23. Many of my constituents feel that localism is failing them when they oppose large-scale wind farms and solar farms. Will the Minister consider a minimum buffer zone between such projects and settlements, which would give my constituents some comfort?
Brandon Lewis
I thank my hon. Friend for that question. I am sure he will appreciate that local communities absolutely have their say under the new wind turbine regime.
John Healey (Wentworth and Dearne) (Lab)
13. What estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of introducing a right to buy for housing association tenants.
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Brandon Lewis)
The details will be set out in the impact assessment when the housing Bill is published, but it is all about ensuring that we support people who aspire to own their own home and extend home ownership to as wide a group of people who wish to have it as possible, and on equal terms to those who have had it for so many years.
John Healey
What a load of waffle. It is quite clear that the Minister has made no assessment at all of the costs of the policy. When he produces the impact assessment before the Bill is published and brought before the House, will he ensure that it shows that taxpayers will pay three times over: first, for the investment to build the homes; secondly, for the discount to sell them; and, thirdly, for the higher housing benefit bills that will result?
Brandon Lewis
I appreciate that the right hon. Gentleman feels strongly about this, no doubt against the background of his interests in the housing association he is involved with.
I gently point out to the right hon. Gentleman that he has made it very clear where the Labour party stands on the issue. Lord Prescott himself made it clear that he did not know what aspiration was. I suspect, from what the right hon. Gentleman has said, that he probably still harks back to his statement to the Fabian Society, in which he spoke about the drop in home ownership since 2012 being no bad thing. We think that it is, and we want to support people who want to own their own home. I am disappointed that he does not support aspiration.
Mims Davies (Eastleigh) (Con)
Does my hon. Friend agree that constructing a local plan where one did not exist in areas such as my constituency of Eastleigh is of paramount importance in delivering home ownership while protecting green spaces and in committing to the strongest sanctions on councils that fail to do this properly by embracing localism and providing locally based community planning?
Brandon Lewis
All housing association tenants will share my view, and my hon. Friend’s, that the best way for communities to have their say is to have a local plan and, even better, neighbourhood plans. I encourage her authority to listen to her and get on with putting its local plan in place.
Gareth Johnson (Dartford) (Con)
T2. The Minister will be aware that the number of empty homes in the UK is now at the lowest level since records began. Will he assure the House that he will continue to work with councils such as Dartford council, which is successfully bringing more and more empty homes back into use?
The Minister for Housing and Planning (Brandon Lewis)
My hon. Friend makes a good point. It has been a pleasure to visit and meet the excellent council in Dartford, which is doing some superb work on this. He is right. The number of long-term vacant homes in England fell by some 10,000 in the year to October 2014, so we are at the lowest levels we have seen. That is good work and we want to go further.
Emma Reynolds (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)
I congratulate the Secretary of State on his promotion and join him in his condemnation of the terrorist attacks in Tunisia, Kuwait and France. Our thoughts and sympathies are with the victims, families and friends.
The reason the Secretary of State does not know when he is going to bring forward his housing Bill is that the policies were written on the back of a fag packet during the election campaign and were based on forcing councils to sell 15,000 homes a year. Since then, I have asked his Department how many of these homes will become vacant every year, and it said it does not know. How many council homes will he force councils to sell off every year?
Mr Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk) (Con)
T5. Are Ministers aware that the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk has a five-year supply of housing and a robust local plan, which will go to the inspector next month? In the meantime, do they agree that it is quite wrong and unethical for developers and housing associations to put in opportunistic applications and appeals?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend makes a good point. It is good to hear that the King’s Lynn local plan will be going through the process as soon as possible. I know that the inspectors will look at it and work with the local authority to get it through the process. If a planning application is made, the local authority itself is the body that makes the decision. Should it end up with an inspector, they will look at the process. Obviously, as the local plan goes through the process it gains more weight, which should be taken into account in any decision.
Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)
T6. With the pause in the electrification of the TransPennine service turning the northern powerhouse into a northern power cut, when did the Secretary of State actually know that the policy was in such difficulty?