Housing Update

James Brokenshire Excerpts

Friday 26th October 2018 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (James Brokenshire)]

I am today publishing a consultation on updates to national planning policy and guidance. This consultation proposes changes to the standard method for calculating local housing need to ensure consistency, with the objective of delivering 300,000 homes per year, on average, by the mid-2020s while providing the clarity that communities need. The consultation also proposes clarifications of national planning policy on housing land supply, the definition of deliverable sites and appropriate assessment for habitats sites.

Our reforms are enabling local planning authorities to plan for the right homes in the right places, in a way that is open, transparent and sustainable for local communities. A key part of this is a standard method for assessing housing need. This has been introduced to ensure a consistent starting point when understanding how many homes are needed in each local area.

Recent changes to one of the statistical datasets the standard method relies on has led to confusion and uncertainty in some areas about how many homes are needed. This consultation therefore proposes changes to the standard method to ensure consistency, with the objective of building more homes, while ensuring local authorities have the clarity they need to produce local plans.

This consultation is open until 7 December, and I will inform the House of the outcome of the consultation as appropriate.

[HCWS1044]