Oral Answers to Questions

Jonathan Reynolds Excerpts

Monday 9th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

I encourage my hon. Friend’s area to get their five-year land supply and their local plan in place as quickly as possible, to make sure that local residents have their voice and the protections that are right for them. When planning decisions are made, both by the local authority and by the inspectors, environmental and other policy constraints in that area will be looked at, but I am happy to meet her and her local council.

[Jonathan Reynolds (Stalybridge and Hyde) (Lab/Co-op)]

4. What assessment he has made of recent trends in the level of house building.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Brandon Lewis)]

Housing starts have almost doubled since 2009. More than 608,000 new homes have been built since 2010, which therefore makes almost 800,000 in England since 2009. Trends in house building are published in the quarterly house building release.

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I am keen to see further new housing built in my constituency but I want it built on derelict, former industrial sites, rather than on the green belt. Some of these sites are very contaminated but the Government offer funds to clean up land only for employment purposes, not for housing. Will the Minister re-examine that, because we could be enabling thousands more homes to be built?

[Brandon Lewis]

I hope that the hon. Gentleman will be joining us in the Lobby in due course when we consider the Housing and Planning Bill, which creates the new zones for the brownfield register and the brownfield fund, which the Government will be putting £1 billion into.