Oral Answers to Questions

Lord Barwell Excerpts

Monday 24th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

6. What estimate he has made of the number of empty homes in England.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Gavin Barwell)]

As of October 2015, 203,596 homes in England had been standing empty for longer than six months, the lowest number since records began.

[Henry Smith]

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Protecting green spaces and providing new homes are both important. What further steps can the Government take to ensure that empty homes are reutilised, notwithstanding the fact that they have already reduced the number of empty homes to an extremely low level?

[Gavin Barwell]

Local authorities have strong incentives. They earn the same financial reward through the new homes bonus for bringing an empty home back into use as for building a new one. They also have strong enforcement powers. They can charge up to 150% council tax for homes that have been empty for more than two years and apply empty dwelling management orders to force owners to bring properties back into use.

[Mr Mark Prisk (Hertford and Stortford) (Con)]

In our town centres there are thousands of empty rooms on upper floors that could easily be converted into homes, yet they do not appear in the now excellent statistics to which the Minister refers. Will he bring together the key stakeholders and agencies to look at what the real barriers are that have meant that Governments of all hues have failed to achieve that conversion?

[Gavin Barwell]

My hon. Friend is a former Housing Minister. I am happy to do as he suggests and perhaps to talk to him offline about that. [Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I think the Minister meant outside the Chamber.

[Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab)]

7. What steps he is taking to ensure that the planning system encourages the building of more affordable homes to rent or buy.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Gavin Barwell)]

The Government continue to reform the planning system. We have set out our clear intent to intervene on those councils that do not have an up-to-date plan. We have legislated to ensure that the planning system delivers starter homes for first-time buyers, as well as affordable homes for people wanting to rent.

[Liz McInnes]

I thank the Minister for that answer. The recently published Greater Manchester spatial framework states an ambition to

“significantly increase the supply of housing that people can afford, including through the planning system.”

How will Greater Manchester be able to achieve that ambition, given that the Housing and Planning Act 2016 lets developers off the hook by effectively ending their obligation to provide affordable homes to rent and buy?

[Gavin Barwell]

The Housing and Planning Act does no such thing. The hon. Lady’s question made it clear that she was interested in more affordable homes for people to rent or buy. The Act requires developers to provide affordable starter homes for first-time buyers, but there will still absolutely be a determination to deliver affordable homes for rent. I look forward to visiting Greater Manchester shortly to discuss these matters.

[Mrs Maria Miller (Basingstoke) (Con)]

Developments such as Chapel Hill in my constituency will have 40% affordable homes. Does not that show that the planning system already gives local authorities the relevant powers they need, and that they should be using them in the same way as Conservative-led Basingstoke Borough Council?

[Gavin Barwell]

I had the privilege of meeting the chief executive of my right hon. Friend’s council the other day, and I commend the council for its work. Her example clearly shows that our aim should be to deliver affordable homes to both buy and rent.

[Sue Hayman (Workington) (Lab)]

16. In Cumbria, we suffer from brain drain, as graduates do not want to return to us after university. Proper planning for affordable housing in the rural north could be the answer. As well as attracting young talent, that could take pressure off the London housing crisis. Will the Minister ensure that we do not have a one-size-fits-all planning policy for affordable housing?

[Gavin Barwell]

I thank the hon. Lady for her excellent question. Too often, the housing problems that we face are portrayed as a problem for just London and the south-east. The Secretary of State, the ministerial team and I are clear that we need a housing policy that delivers more homes right across the country, and recognises the circumstances in different housing markets.

[Ben Howlett (Bath) (Con)]

In Bath, all our brownfield sites will be developed by 2025 to 2030, with the only nearby sites being the brownfield land south of Bristol that has been left undeveloped for decades by the Labour council and Labour Mayor of Bristol. Does my hon. Friend agree that the changes in the last planning Act and the infrastructure Bill will make a huge difference to developing brownfield land across the whole of the south of Bristol and west of England?

[Gavin Barwell]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. Brownfield registers and permission in principle can make a big contribution to ensuring that as much development as possible goes on to brownfield sites. The example he gives also shows the benefit of sometimes working across councils, as is happening in Greater Manchester, to plan for strategic housing needs.

[Tom Blenkinsop (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

8. With reference to the report by Lord Heseltine, “Tees Valley: Opportunity Unlimited”, published in June 2016, whether he plans to provide increased levels of support or investment for Teesside.

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[Mr Alan Mak (Havant) (Con)]

10. What steps he is taking to build and develop more homes.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Gavin Barwell)]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State recently announced the £3 billion home building fund to ensure that we are not so reliant on a few large builders, and the £2 billion accelerated construction programme to speed up building on public land. We will be setting out further plans in a White Paper later this year.

[Mr Mak]

Havant Borough Council is working with communities to update our local plans to ensure that local housing needs are met strategically. Will the Minister join me in congratulating them on their work and welcome their commitment to ensuring that home ownership is within reach of everyone?

[Gavin Barwell]

I am happy to do that. It was a pleasure to visit my hon. Friend’s constituency recently and to meet Councillor David Guest, who is leading this work on behalf of Havant Council, and the great housing associations First Wessex and Radian, which are doing great work in this field.

[Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)]

A fair proportion of these homes have to be affordable. Earlier this year, Westminster Council approved a scheme for 103 luxury flats in Westminster. Thirty per cent. of those would have given us an estimated value of £100 million; in fact, the council agreed to just 2% and took a contribution of £6 million. Will the Minister make it his urgent business to ensure that councils do not evade their commitments to providing a reasonable proportion of affordable housing?

[Gavin Barwell]

Both the Secretary of State and I have made it very clear that we need more homes of every single kind in this country—more homes for people to buy on the market, more affordable homes for rent, and more shared ownership. I hope that the hon. Lady will therefore welcome the Government’s starter homes policy to ensure that developers provide starter homes for first-time buyers when they build out schemes.

[Justin Tomlinson (North Swindon) (Con)]

In Swindon, we have cross-party support for our local plan, and by working with developers in advance of the submission stage of planning, we are delivering the popular Tadpole Farm development. Will the Minister agree to visit Tadpole Farm to see what best practice we can share to deliver much needed new homes?

[Gavin Barwell]

That would be a delight. It is good to hear in this Question Time about councils that are getting on with the business of developing local plans that meet the housing needs of their areas. I hope that all councils in England will follow that example.

[Chris Elmore (Ogmore) (Lab/Co-op)]

18. Will the Minister give some reasons why home ownership among people under 35 has fallen by more than a third of a million since 2010? What will he do to start reversing that trend so that people of my age are able to afford their first home?

[Gavin Barwell]

The hon. Gentleman uses an interesting timescale, because the fall in home ownership among the under-35s started in 2004-05 and the previous Labour Government did nothing about it. Indeed, the new shadow Minister said that he is not sure that he thinks that is such a bad thing. That decline was halted in the past year. The job that now falls to the Secretary of State and me is to reverse that decline so that young people have the chance to fulfil their dreams.

[Ruth Cadbury (Brentford and Isleworth) (Lab)]

In her conference speech, the Prime Minister acknowledged that the Conservatives’ house building record was not good enough. Given the historic failure of the past six years under the Prime Minister’s predecessor, whose house building record was worse than that of any Prime Minister since 1923, how can we be convinced that the present Government will do anything differently to prevent six years of failure from becoming 10?

[Gavin Barwell]

Let us take care of the party politics first. The previous Prime Minister inherited from the previous Labour Government the lowest level of house building since the 1920s, but the number of homes being approved has now increased significantly. In the year to June, our planning system granted a record number of applications. However, if the hon. Lady wants to put aside the party politics and is saying that we need to do better and to build more homes, she will find complete agreement among this ministerial team.

[Helen Goodman (Bishop Auckland) (Lab)]

11. If he will issue guidance to local authorities on taking steps to control light pollution and protect dark skies.

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[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

12. When he plans to make an announcement on his Department's review of building regulations.

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Gavin Barwell)]

We have not set out any formal plans to review the building regulations as a whole, but we have publicly committed ourselves to reviewing part B following the Lakanal House fire. During the passage of the Bill that became the Housing and Planning Act 2016, we made a commitment to review the energy-efficiency standards for buildings in part L.

[Steve McCabe]

I am grateful for that answer, as far as it goes. I do not know whether the Minister has considered my Protection of Family Homes (Enforcement and Permitted Development) Bill, but surely he must agree that help is needed for home owners whose homes and neighbourhoods are blighted by rogue builders and developers who flout the regulations and planning laws because they know that current enforcement action is costly and complicated.

[Gavin Barwell]

I have had a chance to review the hon. Gentleman’s private Member’s Bill. The Government do not agree that further legislation is necessary, but we certainly agree with him that there is a problem in this area. Indeed, last week we announced further powers to give councils the ability to deal with smaller houses in multiple occupation that are causing the kinds of issues that he has mentioned.

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[Luke Hall (Thornbury and Yate) (Con)]

T3. Will my right hon. Friend update the House on his plans to encourage innovation in the construction industry?

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Gavin Barwell)]

We have huge plans in this area. One of the key objectives of the home building fund and the accelerated construction projects the Secretary of State announced at party conference is to encourage more use of offsite construction.

[Mr Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)]

The Secretary of State’s Department is supposed to be England’s voice in government, yet standing up for the English and the services they depend on seems low on Ministers’ list of priorities. The independent Care Quality Commission pointed out recently that the Government’s huge funding cuts have left services for England’s elderly and vulnerable at tipping point. With the social care crisis across England getting worse week by week, when might we expect the Secretary of State to act?

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[Mr Mark Prisk (Hertford and Stortford) (Con)]

T9. The rapid growth in our elderly population is a key driver of housing demand, so what are the Government doing to ensure that we are building not only enough homes, but enough of the right homes for an ageing society?

[Gavin Barwell]

The national planning policy framework requires councils to plan for a mix of housing, but my hon. Friend makes a good point. It is important not only to get the right housing for our elderly population, but to release crucial family housing and to boost the second-hand market, allowing developers to build more homes.

[Rob Marris (Wolverhampton South West) (Lab)]

T5. How is the Government’s proposal for 100% business rates retention compatible with the statement in their consultation document that there will be“a level of redistribution between authorities similar to the current system of 9 tariffs and top-ups”?

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

T10. What is my hon. Friend doing to help small builders?

[Gavin Barwell]

We are doing a number of things. At the party conference, we announced the home building fund, which will provide home builders with the finance that they often cannot secure commercially. We are also looking into planning policy to ensure that we release the vital small sites that small builders can take on.

[Danny Kinahan (South Antrim) (UUP)]

T8. I welcome the Prime Minister’s determination to keep the Union together. With devolution to councils and cities and to areas such as the northern powerhouse, can we have regular meetings with the devolved Governments and their oppositions to ensure that we are all pulling together?

[Sir Gerald Howarth (Aldershot) (Con)]

General aviation airfields, not least White Waltham in the constituency of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister, make a valuable contribution to pilot training, business aviation and sporting aviation. Is the Minister aware that they are now seriously under threat? It is proposed that Redhill aerodrome will become an estate of 4,500 homes, and he will know about Wellesbourne airfield near his constituency. Please can we have a policy that protects general aviation airfields across the country, because otherwise they will all be covered with concrete?

[Gavin Barwell]

My hon. Friend’s passion for the aviation industry is well known. I am happy to meet him to discuss that vital sector and what we can do in planning policy on protection.

[Toby Perkins (Chesterfield) (Lab)]

Chesterfield Borough Council stands ready to help end the housing crisis by building more homes, but the Government have reneged on the deal they did with Chesterfield in 2012. Changes to rents and the money coming into councils have made it much more difficult to deliver the houses that we need. Will the Minister meet a delegation from Chesterfield to understand the changes so that we can build the houses that Chesterfield needs?

[Gavin Barwell]

I am happy to meet a delegation to discuss this issue, but of course the reduction in rates helps vulnerable tenants in reducing the bills they face. The hon. Gentleman is, however, right to say that we must make sure we find a way to ensure that councils, along with housing associations and private builders, can build the homes we desperately need.

[John Glen (Salisbury) (Con)]

Will my hon. Friend confirm that he is fully engaged in evaluating the regional growth fund bid from Swindon and Wiltshire? Will he ensure that the emphasis on long-term skills development at Wiltshire College will be looked upon favourably in due course?

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[Gavin Barwell]

What we need to do is take as much of the conflict as possible out of our planning system, be it in respect of agreeing the level of need, the local plan determination or viability assessments. There is nowhere in this country where the gap between what we are building and what we need to build is greater than in London.

[Nusrat Ghani (Wealden) (Con)]

Forgive me, Mr Speaker, as I raise the issue of Christmas shopping. As internet retailers prepare for black Friday and as online shopping breaks records, rural high streets struggle. Will the Secretary of State support Wealden high streets in Hailsham and Crowborough and increase footfall by visiting Uckfield high street for his Christmas shopping?