Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Christopher Pincher and Peter Dowd

Monday 24th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Christopher Pincher]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question, because it gives me the opportunity to make it clear that it is for local communities to determine how many homes they want and need in their vicinity. Local housing need numbers are not an end point; they are a starting point. It is for local authorities to determine what constraints they may face to determine the numbers of homes that they need in their area. They then agree those numbers with the Planning Inspectorate to set a sound plan, and that is then the number that the local authorities build toward. Local authorities that fail to set an up-to-date plan leave their constituents at risk of speculative development, so it is for local authorities to set the numbers and make their plans.

[Peter Dowd (Bootle) (Lab)]

7. What steps he is taking to ensure that levelling-up funding is allocated equitably and transparently.