Housing and Planning Bill

Mike Wood Excerpts

Monday 2nd November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mike Wood (Dudley South) (Con)]

Let me begin by drawing the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as an elected councillor.

I was pleased to hear the Secretary of State speak about opportunity. Without affordable, decent housing, other opportunities mean little, and there is nothing more natural than people’s aspiration to own a home for themselves and their families. That is why it is so important to my constituents that the Government meet their objective of providing 1 million new homes by 2020.

This is a progressive, genuinely one nation Bill. It will help to increase supply while recognising the importance of our local environments, it will help to bring the possibility of home ownership within the reach of more of our constituents, and it will help to restore equity and fairness to housing and planning systems.

Just as in many hon. Members’ constituencies, my constituency has seen much development in the past 30 years. Situated on the border of the west midlands and Staffordshire, there is always a risk that more demand for housing will mean development into our green belt. That must be resisted. We must also resist the temptation to build on existing gardens, as previous Governments have done. Instead, the key challenge facing the west midlands is how we bring brownfield land into use, particularly contaminated brownfield land. Bringing such land into use, as Ministers will know, is a core part of the proposals for a west midlands combined authority. There is more than 1,600 hectares of vacant brownfield land in the west midlands, which would go a long way to meeting the extra housing capacity our communities need. The Bill will simplify the process of identifying and using available brownfield sites, alongside the £10 million fund available for councils to use brownfield sites to build new starter homes and the wider £1 billion brownfield regeneration package. It will increase supply, regenerate communities and safeguard our green belt.

Most hon. Members will remember the joy of the first time they picked up the keys to their home, hearing the lock turning in the door for the first time and making the place their own. Why should our constituents not feel the same way? The measures in the Bill are part of a wider package to promote home ownership and to make it more accessible, whether for social tenants or for young people looking to buy their first home, helping people to save for a deposit or to turn their social rent into payments towards their home.

The Bill will help to get Britain building. It will help to release the supply of land and increase the housing our communities need. The Bill will help the Government to meet their aspiration to build the homes our country needs, including 200,000 starter homes. Most importantly, the Bill will help to realise the aspirations of millions of people up and down our country to own a home of their own. I am proud to support the Bill this evening.