Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure biodiversity net gain is not used to override protections afforded to Local Wildlife Sites and other designated nature sites.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Development is restricted on sites which are designated for environmental or amenity value, and the National Planning Policy Framework requires local plans to identify, map and safeguard components of local wildlife-rich habitats and wider ecological networks, including the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites of importance for biodiversity.
Biodiversity Net Gain is additional to these protections for nature and only required on new development that needs planning permission, therefore only applying on designated nature sites in the very limited circumstances where such development is permitted.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of planning protections afforded to Local Wildlife Sites in the in the update to the National Planning Policy Framework.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The powers secured through the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 would allow Strategic Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Assessment to be replaced with a new framework of Environmental Outcomes Reports.
The government is committed to securing better environmental outcomes alongside securing the development we need and will consider how best to reform environmental assessment with this objective in mind. Alongside, reforming building regulations, we will carefully consider how Environmental Outcomes Reports can be used to support our wider carbon reduction targets. In the meantime, the current legislation on environmental assessment and its supporting guidance continues to apply.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on support for planning applications by agricultural businesses to (a) install solar panels and (b) expand into the green energy sector.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Planning policy encourages growth through the conversion of existing buildings and promoting well-designed new buildings, alongside the development and diversification of agricultural and other land-based rural businesses. In addition, there are a range of existing permitted development rights which allow for certain agricultural development to take place without a planning application.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is also clear that local authorities should have a positive strategy in place to promote energy from renewables. Permitted development rights currently allow for the installation of rooftop solar up to one megawatt on non-domestic properties, such as farm buildings.
A planning application is not usually required for smaller, on-farm reservoirs, where the waste material excavated to develop a reservoir remains on the farm. An existing permitted development right allows for the creation of smaller, on-farm reservoirs. The right is subject to prior approval, providing a streamlined planning process allowing for local consideration of specific planning matters set out in legislation.
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he has taken to (a) invest in and (b) fast-track the planning process for water storage, recycling and treatment on farms.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Planning policy encourages growth through the conversion of existing buildings and promoting well-designed new buildings, alongside the development and diversification of agricultural and other land-based rural businesses. In addition, there are a range of existing permitted development rights which allow for certain agricultural development to take place without a planning application.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is also clear that local authorities should have a positive strategy in place to promote energy from renewables. Permitted development rights currently allow for the installation of rooftop solar up to one megawatt on non-domestic properties, such as farm buildings.
A planning application is not usually required for smaller, on-farm reservoirs, where the waste material excavated to develop a reservoir remains on the farm. An existing permitted development right allows for the creation of smaller, on-farm reservoirs. The right is subject to prior approval, providing a streamlined planning process allowing for local consideration of specific planning matters set out in legislation.
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking with local government to deliver a planning policy that encourages horticultural growers to expand and modernise.
Answered by Rachel Maclean
Planning policy encourages growth through the conversion of existing buildings and promoting well-designed new buildings, alongside the development and diversification of agricultural and other land-based rural businesses. In addition, there are a range of existing permitted development rights which allow for certain agricultural development to take place without a planning application.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is also clear that local authorities should have a positive strategy in place to promote energy from renewables. Permitted development rights currently allow for the installation of rooftop solar up to one megawatt on non-domestic properties, such as farm buildings.
A planning application is not usually required for smaller, on-farm reservoirs, where the waste material excavated to develop a reservoir remains on the farm. An existing permitted development right allows for the creation of smaller, on-farm reservoirs. The right is subject to prior approval, providing a streamlined planning process allowing for local consideration of specific planning matters set out in legislation.
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to safeguard tenants in buildings where the owner would qualify for the building safety fund to repair unsafe cladding but chooses not to apply to that fund because they are seeking to sell the freehold.
Answered by Lee Rowley
Building owners have a legal responsibility to make sure their buildings are safe. Where remediation works are required, they must take appropriate action without delay. Even if the building owner is intending to sell the freehold, it is not an excuse not to progress works to make the building safe. Where the freehold is sold, the new freeholder assumes all responsibilities and liabilities of the previous freeholder.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help ensure the continued operation of enabling hubs for community groups building their own houses following the closure of the Community Housing Fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Through the Community Housing Fund, my department provided £6 million in grant funding over 2018/19 and 2019/20 to a consortium of leading community-led housing stakeholder groups to support the development of a national network of enabling hubs. These enabling hubs provide impartial advice and guidance to community-based organisations wishing to take forward local housebuilding schemes to help meet local housing needs. Part of the justification for providing grant funding to the hubs was to enable them to develop to the point where they become financially self-sustaining through the fees that they are able to charge community-based housebuilding groups.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has put arrangements in place for support for community groups building their own homes following the closure of the Community Housing Fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Community Housing Fund closed at the end of March. Departmental budgets for 2021/22 have been confirmed at the recent Comprehensive Spending Review and my department is now undertaking a process of allocation of budgets to individual programmes. The needs of the community-led housing sector will be taken into consideration alongside the full range of the department’s priorities. In the meantime, organisations that are registered as providers of social housing may seek capital funding from the over £12 billion Affordable Homes Programme operated outside London by Homes England.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reasons the Community Housing Fund was not renewed.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Community Housing Fund closed at the end of March. Departmental budgets for 2021/22 have been confirmed at the recent Comprehensive Spending Review and my department is now undertaking a process of allocation of revenue budgets to individual programmes. The needs of the community-led housing sector will be taken into consideration alongside the full range of the department’s priorities. In the meantime, organisations that are registered as providers of social housing can seek capital funding from the over £12 billion Affordable Homes Programme operated outside London by Homes England.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to set zero carbon standards for new housing.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government remains committed to meeting its target of net zero emissions by 2050 and recognises the important contribution that the energy efficiency of buildings has to make in meeting it. We must ensure that the energy efficiency standards we set through the Building Regulations for new homes put us on track to meet the 2050 target.
In October 2019, we launched the first stage of a two-part consultation on Part L and Part F of the Building Regulations, which proposed an ambitious uplift in the energy efficiency of new homes through the introduction of a Future Homes Standard from 2025. We expect that homes built to the Future Homes Standard will have carbon dioxide emissions 75-80 per cent lower than those built to current Building Regulations standards, which means they will be fit for the future, with low carbon heating and very high fabric standards. These homes will be ‘zero carbon ready’, with the ability to become fully zero carbon homes over time as the electricity grid decarbonises, without the need for further costly retrofitting work.
We will be publishing the Government response to the Future Homes Standard interim uplift consultation as soon as possible. This will set out a roadmap to the Future Homes Standard.