Housing White Paper

Ivan Lewis Excerpts

Tuesday 7th February 2017 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

That is what it means.

[Mr Ivan Lewis (Bury South) (Lab)]

My constituents are worried about proposals to build on the green belt, but we need more affordable homes. What will the White Paper do to force developers that are sat on brownfield sites and refusing to develop them to get on with building?

[Sajid Javid]

The White Paper contains several measures to deal with that. There is no easy answer, but there can sometimes be good reasons, such as if a developer has another project to go on once it finishes the current one. Some developers do take too long to turn planning permission into homes, however, so the measures in the White Paper include changes to completion notices and the ability to attach conditions to planning permission. We are also consulting on a new measure for large developments to allow local authorities to take into account a developer’s track record.