Oral Answers to Questions

Justin Madders Excerpts

Monday 14th September 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jones]

You are right, Mr Speaker—it is a rather tenuous link but I will do my best. As I have said, the Government are providing significant funding to local authorities to provide disabled facilities grants, and there is no reason why they cannot use that for current council housing stock, or support housing associations with their stock.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to promote the building of affordable homes through the planning system.

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

The national planning policy framework requires local planning authorities to meet their affordable housing needs for their area, and we are committed to delivering some 275,000 new affordable homes through to the end of this Parliament.

[Justin Madders]

In my constituency, over the past 18 months developer after developer has used the planning rules to get out of their obligations to build affordable homes, and more than 200 much needed affordable homes have been lost to my constituency during that period. When will the Minister get a grip and get developers to comply with their obligation to build affordable homes?

[Brandon Lewis]

The hon. Gentleman might wish to take up with his local authority the issue of the power to negotiate locally. We are delivering affordable homes at the fastest rate in just over two decades, and in his constituency the number of homes going forward has increased by 124% since 2010. He should be thanking the Government for the work we have done to support that industry.